Seanad debates
Wednesday, 5 November 2003
Insurance Industry Reform: Motion.
In regard to his comments on competition, I hope the Senator is not suggesting the Government should establish an insurance company. Until the reform is in place, we will not attract new players. This is a small market of just 4 million people and I am concerned that there are too few players in some product markets – in one there is just one player quoting in the Irish market. We need a combination of tools to drive down the cost of insurance. We need the reforms, which I am implementing through the PIAB, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform's civil and courts liability legislation and we need new entrants. We may only need one entrant to substantially drive down insurance costs and I am optimistic we will have that new entrant as soon as the legislation is in place. The indications are that we will have a new entrant, and I believe that will be the case. I will not try to score political points because the issue is way above politics.
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