Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)

The question I continue to raise relates to when the Government is going to deal with the issue of the costs that people are paying for motor insurance and home insurance and that sports groups, organisations, community groups and small businesses the length and breadth of this State are paying for public liability insurance. The profits being made by the industry are eye-watering. When representatives of the industry came before the finance committee, they told us they would target a 4% to 5% increase; not 4% to 5% over the past ten to 20 years but because that is the industry norm. Insurance premiums have increased and we have seen double-digit profit margins for the past three years. The margins they are making are two and three times the European average. I have supported all the reforms that have been introduced in this House. However, I argued that such reforms cannot be about boosting the profits of the industry; they have to be about putting money back into consumers' pockets. That is where the Government is failing over and over again.

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