Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There are only two pieces of additional information required under this legislation that are not already being collected, namely, how much the award would have been if the Judicial Council Act had not been enacted and how much premium would have to be charged. Every time we introduce legislation on insurance, including on dual pricing in the industry which the Central Bank is banning, the industry says will cost a huge amount and those costs will have to be passed on to customers. Dual pricing will be banned in July, despite opposition from the industry. When I introduced my own Consumer Insurance Contracts Act, the insurance industry said it was overly burdensome, would cost a lot of money to implement and so on. There is a script here. When we deal with this issue and when the courts stick to the guidelines, which is what we all want to see, and when we deal with the duty of care issue, the goalposts will be moved again. We are chasing the industry all of the time and it is not fair. There are people out there who have been put to the pin of their collar.

The witnesses have quoted Mr. Peter Boland a number of times but he has been calling the industry out on public liability. He has said it is price gouging. The industry is taking advantage of the fact there is a lack of competition in the market. Public liability premiums are not based on risk.