Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the witnesses. I will commence with questions to Engineers Ireland. The committee has received correspondence from fire safety engineers who are concerned about the huge rise in the cost of PI insurance. One particular company said that the cost of cover in 2019 was €2,500, that it then rose to €7,000 in 2020 and that in 2021, initially, it was unable to get a quote and when it did the annual premium quoted was €65,000. In a two-year period, the cost of cover increased from €2,500 to €65,000. That is unmanageable for many companies.

We are all aware that this issue has come to a head as a result of the Grenfell Tower tragedy. It needs to be recognised that the systems in Britain and Ireland are very different. In the main, British underwriters are not differentiating between the Irish fire safety risk exposure and that in Britain. We have a report which confirms that Ireland does not have the same fire safety risk exposure as Britain, but that does not seem to be recognised by these underwriters. It is essential that the Minister of State, Deputy Fleming, engages with underwriters in Irish construction and with the engineering industry to understand these concerns, provides underwriters with the assurances that are needed and clarifies the differences between the systems in Britain and Ireland. We are aware of 15 businesses that have withdrawn from the market as a result of this issue. This impacts on businesses, but also on construction because this is a key component in regard to the construction of office buildings, etc. Does Mr. Lyons agree that the Minister of State, Deputy Fleming, needs to engage on this matter and that the Government needs to take strong action in this regard? This is a huge issue and it is putting companies out of business. The cost of €65,000 for 2021 is not possible for many businesses. I would welcome Mr. Lyons's views.