Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Towards the end of his questioning Deputy Doherty raised the issue of insurance. Perhaps he did not have a chance to press the Minister on it further when he said the response would be more on the policy rather than the budgetary side. As the Deputy outlined, there is a real crisis. As policies come up for renewal, more and more traders, many of whom are self-employed, are finding that there is no offer of insurance cover because essentially their provider has left the market. It may not be a big bang because it is not all happening together, but as policies come up for renewal, they will have to close their businesses, something which is happening increasingly. I have a question for the Minister, even though I know that this matter falls directly within the remit of the Minister of State, Deputy D'Arcy. It concerns financial services. Is the Minister aware of interventions or initiatives under way to ensure those involved in the leisure sector, in particular, can continue to access insurance? It is going to be on fully commercial terms, but at this point many of the people in question are facing a scenario where they will not be able to access insurance, which means automatically that they will have to close their business.