Yesterday and previously, I and others raised the issue of the escalating demands by insurance companies in respect of renewal of premiums. I suggested that perhaps the Financial Regulator might get involved because there appears to be no basis whatsoever for the level of increase now being imposed on people. Attributing the need for this to increased payouts is not the answer because an increase of up to 1,000% is taking place in some cases. Is there any progress on the possible input of the Financial Regulator?

Certainly the issue of insurance has been a big priority for the Government for quite some time. Multiple pieces of legislation are now moving forward or are in gestation to try to make sure we deal with fraudulent claims in a comprehensive way to ensure we will not see the type of disparity we see today with regard to payouts following court cases. When we compare our benchmark with the UK there are a number of areas linked to insurance payouts and consistency that the State wants to deal with in legislation. It is very much under way.