Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to speak about the matter which was addressed by Senators Conway-Walsh and McDowell, namely, insurance. I was struck yesterday when I heard on the radio in my car people from the pre-school sector on the Sean O'Rourke's show and the evening programme later who said they would have to close pre-school services, with the loss of jobs and causing great inconvenience for parents. Another woman was on the radio to say openly that she would not be able to insure her pre-school and would have a large number of children in attendance without insurance. It is chronic. The business environment is particularly chronic. Small businesses everywhere are threatened by the multiples and Internet sales. Rates are also a huge issue for them. When one adds the current level of insurance premiums required to keep a small business going, it is not viable. It is very serious. In a county like mine car insurance is almost a form of tax on work, given the lack of public transport, including rail services, except along the main thoroughfare. It is a real problem. There is an obvious issue with awards, a matter which was addressed well by our colleague, Senator Lawlor, last week. It needs to be addressed. Insurance companies' internal costs must be looked at also, as must the idea of criminalising the making of false claims. There is a whole agenda that needs to be addressed. While there is a discussion taking place at the finance committee today, we have a separate role as a House of the Oireachtas and must address the issue. I note for the Leader, allowing for the fact that we had a discussion at some level last week, that the issue is too serious to ignore and leave it at that. I ask that we again have a long and thorough discussion on the problem of the cost of insurance.