Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I hear what the Minister of State says and I take it at face value but the reality is that we have less transparency now within the system. The blue book and the private motor insurance statistics, PMIS, should have been published in recent years. We should not allow the insurance industry to do what it has done, namely, allow our agencies to take away the little transparency that existed. This is the same entity that was investigated in dawn raids by European authorities because of its cartel-like behaviour. It is the same entity that is refusing to insure soft play areas the length and breadth of the State. We will see them close down one by one. An entrepreneur in the soft play area broke down before the committee as she had put her ambitions and hopes into her business and she will be out of business because no insurance company in the State will insure her. They say it is too costly and we cannot dispute that because no data are available. The reality is that the national claims information database is a closed book that only gives information to the industry, and only on claims, not costs. The Alliance for Insurance Reform said that confirms its view that official Ireland is in no hurry to resolve this crisis despite the damage insurance costs are doing to small businesses. Unfortunately, it is right, because there is a lack of urgency and a clear lack of transparency which is affecting jobs and businesses to a considerable extent.

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