Insurance 'Cartels' Making Massive Profits Are Operating In A 'Gangsters Paradise' Says A Local TD

Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin spoke in Leinster House about the "insurance rip-off" in Ireland.

A Wicklow-Wexford TD has criticised the government's lack of action against insurance companies who are driving up premiums causing misery for people.

The government has been rebuked for not acting on legislation to hold insurance companies accountable for high profits and costs.

Sinn Féin proposals will be put before a vote scheduled for tonight. (Wednesday, October 1st)

Sinn Féin's Fionntáin O Suilleabhain says insurance companies are acting like cartels:

''Minister, the insurance rip-off is what it is. It affects every single household, every motorist, every business, every community and every group across this land. We're all getting fleeced by a cartel of insurance companies who are making two to three times more profit here in Ireland than they are in other countries.

So it's a gangster's paradise, basically, and that's not speculation, it's fact. They hiked up motor insurance by a massive 11.5% last year, four times the rate of inflation. Many young people in my area of rural North Wexford and South Wicklow have to have a car to get to work, but they're getting punished by these gangsters for driving to work.''

He added that many people simply cannot afford health insurance anymore...

''Health insurance costs that a lot of people are forced to have. Over 2.5 million people in the state have to have private health insurance now. They've been hiked up by over 50% on pre-COVID levels, many of whom are the people who are already struggling to hold on to the insurance.

A lot of them are dropping, a lot of people I know are dropping their health insurance at the moment, health coverage. Home insurance costs are crazy. Public liability costs are forcing the closure of businesses and the ending of many community events, which make Ireland what it is.''

Many small businesses do not make claims against their insurance Deputy O Suilleahain also maintained but are punished punitively despite that.

''Four years ago, in my own area, a local children's recreational park in County Wicklow faced closure due to skyrocketing insurance costs, which were hiked from £26,000 up to £88,000. That's incredible, despite not having made one single claim. Another town in Wicklow, which used to hold great summer festivals, no longer holds the festivals due to the high cost of public liability insurance.''

He questioned the motives of insurance companies and the government's lack of action as he perceived it:

''Basically, rocketing insurance costs and overburdening regulations in Ireland are operating in an insurance cartel's paradise. They're ripping the very fabric of Ireland apart. They're ripping society apart.

The Government is doing absolutely nothing about it, while at the same time letting companies make 17% profit margins. For over a decade, my colleague here in front of me, Pearce Doherty and Sinn Féin in general, have been producing legislation to end this great insurance rip-off, but yet the Government simply will not act on it. I have no idea why.''