Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I echo the concerns expressed by Deputy John Curran. Taxi drivers are being driven out of self-employment. Young drivers cannot obtain insurance policies or have to be included in secondary or other policies. As a result they have to sell additional cars. There is a contradictory policy within the State whereby we are trying to incentivise people to improve their cars via the obtaining of NCT certificates, but insurers will not provide insurance policies. It is also an issue of competition. Have licence applications been rejected? Many insurance companies misrepresent themselves by offering numerous marketing gimmicks and schemes.

We are all familiar with the different branding that exists under the one arm, and especially under the one underwriter. Has any investigation taken place regarding consumer protection under the licensing regime? Have other international insurers applied to enter the market? How difficult has this been in the context of the current problem around competition?

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