Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

To respond to Deputy Lahart first, I met Insurance Ireland a fortnight ago. I met the CEOs of all the insurance companies earlier in the year but that was pre-Covid. I have met the Alliance for Insurance Reform and I plan to meet both the alliance and Insurance Ireland again in the coming weeks. My message to the insurance sector is that there was no difference between advice the Government gave for companies to consider trading on public health grounds and a mandate for them to close. We were very clear that the guidance was the same. I made very clear my requirement that all companies be treated fairly throughout this period. The insurance sector will need to have clients at the other end of this that they are in a position to reinsure. The issues relating to insurance, as the Deputy well knows, are complex but I am also aware that not making progress on this issue and not trying to alleviate some of this difficulty are big constraints on companies reopening at the moment.

I will revert to Deputy McGuinness and either the House or a committee in the coming weeks with our perspective on the issues raised yesterday. Important issues were raised and we agree on some of them, including on the risks there will be. I will make two points to the Deputy. First, many have been critical at times about how long it has taken to complete tendering processes for important projects. We tried to put in place contracts that would give safeguards to the taxpayer. We will now evaluate contracts that are in place for important projects to see how they respond to the issues the Deputy raised yesterday.

My second point relates to the issues I have debated with the Deputy in recent years regarding the difficulty in getting companies to deliver public projects, the competition for the workers needed to deliver homes and other projects these companies could do that may be easier and more commercially attractive. That economy has changed also and there will be a value in public contracts that this Government or the next will stand over for those who have them.

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