Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have made the point and I make it again: the Minister of State is not grasping or responding to the seriousness of this. We want the Judiciary to do what it wants, but my fear is that the Minister of State is swallowing the spin from the industry, just like he swallowed the spin about fraudulent claims. We know that the insurance industry has reported only 50 suspected fraudulent cases out of the tens of thousands it was suggesting are out there. The reality - facts speak loud - is that awards are dropping. In the High Court they went down from €85 million to €57 million last year; in the Circuit Court, where they went up slightly, by 2.3%, the total amount of awards was €23 million. The full quantum of awards paid out through the Courts Service dropped dramatically last year, yet the Minister of State tells us the solution to this is simply awards. It is not. A multi-agency approach and multiple solutions to this are needed and the Minister of State needs to stand up to the industry.

I therefore question him on this, as I have questioned the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, and the Taoiseach. Have they sat down with Insurance Ireland? Have they told them we have a complete market failure here? We have thousands of jobs and an entire sector which cannot get insurance in Ireland or in Britain. Have they had that conversation? When the underwriter that used to underwrite these businesses moved its headquarters from London to Dublin, two Government Ministers issued press releases welcoming AXA XL. Have they lifted the phone to AXA XL and said, "Thank you for coming to Dublin as a result of Brexit, but why are you screwing over our indigenous business and withdrawing from the market?" They cannot have it both ways. The Minister of State needs to stand up to these companies.

Lastly, does the Minister of State have anything to say about the fact that the State pockets €230 million in taxes and levies as a result of the premiums that are skyrocketing and putting businesses out of business and workers out of jobs?

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