Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Joint Committee on Business, Enterprise and Innovation, of which I am a member, is compiling a report on the cost of doing business in Ireland. All the witnesses who have appeared before the committee have flagged as their number one item the cost of insurance. That does not come as a surprise to any of us. However, the problem is that it is not getting any better. All the work that is going on and the work that is not going on are impacting on businesses every day of the week.

I know the Minister of State recently met representatives of the Alliance for Insurance Reform. I met them recently in Limerick along with some of my colleagues. Some of what they told us was truly staggering. For example, there is renewal brinkmanship in the road haulage industry with insurance providers waiting until midnight on the renewal day and then bumping up the premium by a couple of hundred percent without giving any notice. This happened to a haulage company with 30 or 40 trucks on the road. How can they continue to do business in a competitive environment when they are being treated like that by their insurance companies?

We need meaningful reform and engagement. We need care rather than cash. In particular we need new providers in the marketplace. The Government has a job of work to do to encourage new insurance underwriters into the Irish market because at the moment it is being dominated by a small number of people who are operating almost like a cartel in certain sectors.

The Alliance for Insurance Reform has advised the Minister of State of all the problems, and I am sure he knows many of them. That alliance represents various hoteliers, publicans, community and voluntary groups. The Minister of State knows the list. We need action as soon as possible or else vast sections of business will be negatively impacted, particularly businesses in rural areas which are struggling with so many other factors also impacting them. We need urgency from the Government in dealing with the issue.

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