Ms Mo Flynn:

Increased insurance costs is a pressing issue for all our organisations. To be fair, the HSE has facilitated a piece of work in the past year involving a number of our organisations with the State Claims Agency. A detailed analysis was undertaken of the costs incurred, in particular in employer's liability and public liability. We have just had that information given to us and it clearly shows those costs have increased exponentially in recent years. We do not come under the remit of the State Claims Agency. The section 38 disability agencies were brought in under the remit of the agency some years ago. The ongoing effect that has had is that the insurance pool has decreased, which means that private insurance companies are now insuring section 39 agencies on the basis of a reduced pool and, therefore, our costs have gone up because we are not under the remit of the State Claims Agency. That has had a significant effect on us. Some of us self-insure, which is a perverse place to find oneself in, but there is no doubt that while the solutions are being considered, nothing has been forthcoming to offer us the same protections through the State Claims Agency as our section 38 colleagues. As Senator Dolan said, the difference between us is barely a slip of paper. This comes back to the issue of costs and contracts. It is the same price for the same services but that does not take account of the considerable increase that has come upon us in recent years as a result of the decision to bring in the section 38 agencies under the remit of the agency.