Another centre nearby was quoted an annual premium of €274,000. This centre would need to earn that sum before it even began to pay the rest of its expenses, let alone make a profit. Is it any wonder we have difficulty in being competitive? The centre eventually managed to negotiate the insurance company down to a premium of €100,000 and a loading of €25,000 for every additional claim. There can be little economic sense in having insurance when every claim will cost the centre approximately €25,000. It might be claimed that insurance costs were always that high, but only two years ago the same centre was paying the equivalent of €65,000 per annum. That increase in cost indicates the damage being done to the level of competitiveness in the tourism industry.