Mr. Brian Hanley:

One of the things to point to, in fairness, is the relative size of the Irish market. We are a smaller country with a smaller population compared with other countries. I am sure that is a factor. The reputational issue is another reason that needs to be addressed. There is a need now to promote the stability of the market and Ireland as a destination because of the reforms that have come in. That needs to be beefed up. It is important to get that message out there. Sometimes the older views can take a longer time to shift. As I said earlier, there have been issues around access to data for businesses making decisions about whether to enter the market. Those have been somewhat addressed but perhaps a longer term solution is needed as well. Ultimately, I think that is what is required.

It is difficult to understand why 20% of the 775 organisations that responded have only one underwriter willing to provide cover and the guts of 40 with only two. There is a dearth of competition. One of the eternal frustrations of some of our members, albeit perhaps the more niche sectors, is why their counterparts in Sweden, Germany and France can get insurance for this activity but they cannot get it in Ireland. There is no satisfactory answer. Whether it is in the arts, particularly in the performative arts, there are some issues whereby the same insurers will cover it in other countries but not here. There is no satisfactory answer that we have been able to yield or elicit from them as to why that is the case. Perhaps market size is the only thing, but with the work, there is an opportunity now because of all the reforms and the promise of additional reforms the new action plan holds. A lot of positive steps have happened but that is only good if you tell people about it.