The former President of the High Court, Mr. Justice Nicholas Kearns, made some stinging remarks recently about insurance costs. He said that we have an immediate and urgent problem with a compensation culture, and he has called on politicians to step up and do something. Fianna Fáil, in particular through Deputy Michael McGrath, has for some time been offering many suggestions on what can be done, but the Government is not taking them on board.

On the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017, will Fine Gael finally stand up to the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross, and allow that Bill to proceed? Why are we not proceeding with an insurance fraud unit that could start investigating false claims?

On the issue of insurance companies, three of them reported profits of €200 million in recent weeks while small businesses were closing. Is it not time, as Mr. Justice Kearns said, for the Government to step up?

The Government is stepping up in this area. The Bill the Deputy referred to is in the Seanad. A conversation is happening between the Department and the Commissioner on a specific Garda fraud unit to respond to the concerns the Deputy has raised. I know that Deputy Michael McGrath only yesterday introduced new legislation which will go to Second Stage soon. We will look at the merits of that Bill. There have been three pieces of legislation passed in the past 12 to 18 months concerning insurance and insurance costs. This is an issue and we are responding to it. I agree with the Deputy that, despite all of the things that have been done in recent years to respond to concerns and frustrations from the insurance industry, there always seems to be a new reason for insurance premiums to increase. Looking at asset values and profits in this sector, there is no large insurance company in Ireland making a loss at the moment, and many are making very significant profits. We will respond, but we also expect an appropriate response from the insurance industry.