Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Okay. Let us look at what happened in Britain. Many of Insurance Ireland's members are also the largest insurance companies. The seven largest insurance companies in Ireland are also the seven largest insurance companies in Britain. I refer to AXA, Allianz, Aviva, Zurich Insurance Group, RSA Insurance and those types of companies.

In Britain, when the House of Commons voted through a reduction in whiplash awards, it wanted to ensure that did not benefit insurance companies but that it actually benefited the customers. It drafted regulations that are currently in effect and it puts an obligation on Insurance Ireland's member companies that operate in Britain. It puts exactly these types of requirements to report. Basically, in layman's terms, it says this is the level of awards we paid out last year and this is the level of premia we charged, and, if the reductions in awards had not happened, this is the level of awards we would have had to pay out and this is the level of premia we would have had to pay. Why is Insurance Ireland opposed to that type of oversight being introduced in this State?