Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for their comments and I want to give practical examples of what we are talking about. I met the Alliance for Insurance Reform last week and I hope to meet it again next month and the month after. It has indicated a number of pinch points where some groups are having difficulty getting insurance and that is a particular problem. The survey it referred to only included a number of businesses and is not reflective of all those businesses that have no problem getting insurance. The average price of insurance for a business, which includes sole traders, is about €2,000 per annum. That is a Central Bank figure; not mine. I will also meet Insurance Ireland and Brokers Ireland to discuss the areas in Irish society where there are particular difficulties obtaining insurance. Ice rinks were mentioned in this regard a week ago in a Topical Issue matter. Sometimes if four, five or six groups are operating in the country they might have to come together to help them help themselves in getting insurance collectively. That is the principle matter I will be pursuing in the coming weeks.

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