Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

There is an assumption behind that that what the private insurance companies are doing with premiums is justified. They are putting a whole case forward on to that. I do not accept it at all. In fact, the number of fatal and non-fatal collisions in this country has fallen substantially. There are not more accidents. There are serious problems of transparency around the finances of private insurance companies. I put it to the Minister of State that it is actually to do with bad investments by these companies and by a crazy and competitive drive for market share. In other words, it is the fault of the private insurance companies and their pursuit of profit that has caused the problem, as well as the collapse of Quinn Insurance and Setanta Insurance and other things. Legal costs have certainly been an issue although I do not think they are the major factor. The costs of all of these things and others such as needless advertising could be eliminated with a public insurance company. I ask the Minister of State to look particularly at the category of taxi drivers who are being run out of business and will not be able to continue unless we do something about this.

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