Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 18 April 2018

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

Cost of Doing Business in Ireland: Discussion (Resumed)

1:30 pm

Mr. Peter Boland:

It has not been a major issue. However, a big and related issue is the fact that there are eight underwriters which dominate the public liability markets. Just one or, at a maximum, two underwriters will be available in individual sectors. It might sound like eight underwriters are quite a lot from the point of view of competition but in individual sectors such as taxis, golf clubs, Montessori schools, play centres etc., there are only one or two and we are increasingly finding that anyone dealing with the public, and who has made a claim in the past three to five years, will only have one underwriter who is prepared to quote.