Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

I do not disagree. It is unfortunate that the measure we are introducing was not taken years ago. I would be pleased if the Financial Regulator were to reduce the solvency requirement. While I do not normally criticise independent regulators, as I have stated publicly, the approach adopted here is incredibly conservative given that health insurance is much more predictable than other forms of insurance. Unfortunately, a conservative approach has been adopted in an area that has considerable capacity for predictability and reliability, whereas a liberal approach appears to have been adopted in areas which are not characterised by such certainty.

See this speech in context