Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We are in a really absurd situation here. Opposition parties, business groups and citizens have been pleading for years with the Government to do something about the rotten insurance system in this State but the Government refuses point blank to do anything serious about it. The insurance system in Ireland is broken. It is bleeding ordinary motorists dry with ridiculously high premiums that are not seen anywhere else in the world. The situation is so bad that businesses are closing down because their insurance premiums are increasing by 300% and 400% in some cases. This is pure greed on the part of insurance companies but they are being allowed to get away with it by this Government. It is ridiculous that when asked about the cost of insurance, all the Government does is cite the cost of insurance working group. We need action, including new laws and we need to challenge the insurance industry on its behaviour. We certainly do not need endless reports. Has the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation met insurance companies to find out why some of them are refusing to insure entire sectors, as we are seeing with play centres across the country?

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