Colm Burke (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and also welcome the business people in attendance. As someone who has been self-employed for many years, I am deeply aware of the difficulties small businesses are obliged to face at present. My colleagues have touched on many of the issues already. However, I wish to touch on two issues. The first concerns an agency funded by the State that has removed a contractor from its list of approved contractors without any prior notice or without going through fair procedures. This is outrageous and the case is on my desk at present. A contractor was removed from the list overnight because of an allegation in respect of family members being involved. However, no complaint was made against the contractor in question and there is no evidence this contractor has done anything wrong. Despite this, it has been removed from an approved contractor list by a State-funded agency. No fair procedures were followed through and this is a clear case for a judicial review, which is the advice I have given. It is outrageous that fair procedure has not been followed through in this day and age.

The second issue I wish to raise pertains to insurance companies. I refer to cases whereby claims are lodged by businesses but huge delays arise in the processing of claims for damages experienced by businesses through flooding or fire. The process is prolonged ad infinitum to try to force businesses to accept settlements at values that are far lower than the level of damage done. This is an issue whereby insurance companies are abusing their position and Members certainly should ensure that insurance companies comply with the policies from which they have collected large premiums. I ask that this issue also be examined.