Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)

The Minister of State can splice and dice this any way. Everybody out there knows the cost of insurance is going up. The alliance is saying it. The reforms have been pocketed by the industry. Let us look at Liberty Insurance. Its profits are at 13%. This industry came before the House of the Oireachtas. It begged us to do the reforms. We put it to insurance companies and asked what they would target and whether they would pass it on. The industry said it would, euro for euro, and that it would only target 5%. It is now at 13%. Public liability and employers' liability are worse. The Minister of State provided figures. Insurance has increased by 56% over the last ten years. That is €1,000 on every premium. It is not just motorists who are being squeezed here. Small businesses, retail, community organisations and local GAA clubs are all being hammered. If we strip all the noise away and look at profitability, the key question we have to ask ourselves is how come insurance companies in this country earn double the profit of all the European competitors.

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