Colm Burke (Cork North-Central, Fine Gael)

-----the more an insurance company will demand from the employer. In real terms, then, the reduction is probably far greater, around 60% to 65% in claims, if we look at it from that point of view. If we look, for instance, at employment claims - accidents at work - and do a comparison with the position ten years ago and the number of claims per employee in the country, there is a huge difference in real terms. At the same time, the insurance companies are still demanding very high premiums.

May I ask about one issue? I think there is a significant lack of knowledge of it and I am not sure we are doing enough work on it. I refer to the exposure of companies. A lot of commercial companies are not aware that an insurance company can decide to cover the first €6 million. I have seen employers get to a stage where if there is a claim greater than €6 million, then a second insurance comes into place. I am not sure if we are doing enough education on that whole area. What is the witnesses' experience of that?