Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will first talk about the issue of databases in insurance in general and in the motor insurance industry. It is nonsensical to think there is not a database. The only problem is we do not have access to it. The insurance companies have been sharing information for as long as I can remember.

I am particularly aware of a public house that burned down in Dublin in the 1960s and the insurance company refused to pay out because the proprietor of that house had not declared a sofa burn from a cigarette in his own house. That was with a separate insurance company but they were able to get their hands on it. In the end, the broker paid out a fortune in that case.

Insurance companies have been sharing information for years. The only thing we need to do is to force them to put that information into the public domain. We need to stop this nonsense.

I feel a bit of a fraud standing here listening to the sort of figures that have been bandied about this year. I paid €320 for my insurance for a two litre car and my wife pays €315 for hers.