Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The problem is that I have listened to the Minister of State for a long time and I know his intentions, which are good. I also agree with some of the comments made by others in the House suggesting that he is not getting support at Government level. I know he disputes this suggestion but that is my view. This does not, however, take away from the real issues. As the Minister of State has just stated, when the committees are set up is out of our hands now. It is only at this point that the Minister will be able to finally give the order to commence the legislation we passed earlier in the summer. The Government has not, however, secured any commitment from the insurance industry such as was secured more than ten years ago. At that time, the industry committed to reducing premiums if certain reforms were introduced. This involved a very clear table, a schedule produced at the time which stated that premiums would reduce by a certain amount for each given reform. The Minister of State is taking the industry's words at face value.

I was asked to ask the Minister of State a question this morning. A 19 year old who is trying to get driving on a provisional licence could not get insured so he went to a broker. The best price this broker could get this 19 year old living in rural Ireland was €12,319.78. The Minister of State says that I am wrong but I can give him the quote.

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