Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Like the Deputy, I understand that insurance companies have to make a profit. If they do not make a profit, they cannot operate or function. If the latter were the case, there would not be any insurance companies or insurance policies and there would certainly be no competition. Obviously, they should be making reasonable rather than excessive profits.

It is encouraging to have seen motor insurance come down a lot in recent years. I am not happy that house insurance is still going up. We had expected that when price walking ended, the loyalty penalty would be removed and prices would fall. In general, prices have not fallen. Despite the considerable efforts we have made around employer liability and public liability, premiums are pretty flat. I want to see them fall.

In terms of the reforms that are under way, the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, is bringing in new legislation in respect of duty of care in order to rebalance the responsibility when it comes to entering a premises. This will mean that people have a little more responsibility not to injure themselves or get injured. That legislation should be done in the next few months. The Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Calleary, is bringing through the Personal Injuries Resolution Board Bill 2022, which will allow more cases to be settled before the board and to discourage people from going to court in certain circumstances. We think that will help to bring down premiums.

I chair the Government group on insurance. We have good engagement with the insurance industry - the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Fleming, is engaged in that as well - and with the Central Bank, which is the regulator.

Deputy Fitzmaurice mentioned one or two specific examples of somebody who, I think, is a cancer survivor-----

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