Fianna Fáil TD for Cavan-Monaghan, Brendan Smith, has questioned the Minister for Finance on the spiralling costs of insurance premiums and called for urgent and meaningful reform of the industry.

In his response the Minister acknowledged the problems faced by many small businesses in relation to the cost and availability of insurance as well as the frustrations they have with the pace of reform.

Deputy Smith commented, “It’s not good enough for the Minister to acknowledge the challenges which exist in terms of insurance alone. His acknowledgement must be followed by real and meaningful reform.

“The cost of insurance is simply unsustainable. Motorists, homeowners and business owners are all being crippled by the cost of insurance. We recently learned of the closure of the much-loved petting farm and visitor centre in Killinkere as a result of skyrocketing insurance.

 “At a time when people are out spending more, SME’s should be experiencing an increase in business. Instead, they are being pushed to the pins of their collar and many are contemplating reducing staff numbers or closing all together.

 “To add insult to injury, we know that three of the country’s main insurance companies made a combined profit of almost €200m in 2018 – clearly they are not passing on their profits to customers. They are raking it in by imposing huge premiums on consumers who can scarcely afford them.

 “I want to see more definitive action from Government. This needs to stop before we see the closure of more businesses and further job losses”, concluded Deputy Smith.