Tom Morrissey (Progressive Democrats)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House, and congratulate him on his promotion. I also thank the Minister, Deputy Martin, for his contribution.

Senator Ryan spoke of a compassionate model and said we should not look 3,000 miles away, or to our nearest neighbour who does not have a model to show us either. The model of a successful economy is the country in which we live. This country has created thousands of jobs in the past few years. Those jobs were filled primarily from the ranks of the unemployed, previously referred to as "human set-aside". We now have one of the highest rates of employment and the lowest rate of unemployment in Europe.

I am pleased to contribute to this morning's debate because I have run a small business since 1986. It is benchmarked from here to China. There is certainly competition within some sectors of the economy, although not all. However, some sectors have brutal competition.

With regard to insurance, I know the developments of the past few years will be vigorously continued by the new Minister. Prices used to rise phenomenally each year. When one got one's insurance premium, one was afraid to shop around because nobody would give one a quotation. One was afraid that if one did shop around, one would be asked why one was doing so. One was delighted to write the cheque and post it the following day in case insurance was refused.

Since 2002, the cost of building insurance has fallen from €12,230 to €7,800. These amounts did not come from the same insurance company, they came from shopping around. The previous Minister advised people to do so in order to get a competitive price. That is how competition will be effective in this economy. People are not forced to pay high prices; it is their choice not to shop around.