I am sorry; the Senator's point was not covered. I fully understand what she said about the importance of regional investment. That might be outside the frame of debate for these two funds; rather is general government expenditure or the role of ISIF, but I understand her concern. Investments will be made outside the State, which is important to acknowledge, and we will make sure investment in the State provides for investment in the State as a whole, whether it is in Dublin, Roscommon, east Galway or wherever. I f…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 65 and 94 together. I thank Deputies O'Sullivan and Stanton for their very timely and pertinent questions. As they will be aware, insurance reform remains a key priority for this Government and is being delivered via the action plan for insurance reform. As per the most recent action plan implementation report, published in February 2024, the vast bulk of the actions it contains are now either delivered or initiated. The importance that the Government places on this issue is evidenc…

I thank the Deputies for the supplementary questions. I acknowledge absolutely the acute costs facing businesses. This issue is very relevant to my previous role. I have met representatives of the Alliance for Insurance Reform already. We had a recent roundtable event for those in the hospitality sector, which they attended. We expect other companies to enter the market. As I laid out, there are negotiations ongoing involving IDA Ireland, but we are really keen to see an increase in the level of risk taken on by ex…

I thank the three Deputies for their interventions. For general premiums, the most drastic example has been the decrease in motor insurance over the past four years. There has been an average decrease of 24% in the cost of premiums in that sector, which is key progress that is extremely welcome. A lot of that is due to the decline in soft tissue injuries. I will be quite frank and have no problem saying that I am disappointed with the rate and pace at which premiums are coming down. I expect them to come down a lot…

We will continue to engage with insurers.

I did not interrupt you and I do not know why you keep doing this to Ministers. You asked a question and I am offering a supplementary reply. If that is what you want, we can do it.

With respect to the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, I would like to address all three points that were made. Deputy Stanton asked about the delay in payouts. I fundamentally agree that it is a key issue for individuals and businesses around the country. It is putting businesses out of action and people are waiting for such a serious length of time that they are unable to meet demands. It is absolutely an issue I will raise. We will have an opportunity to engage further on the next question.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 66 and 82 together. I thank the Deputy for his questions. As has been outlined and is quite clear, insurance reform remains a key priority for this Government and is being delivered via the action plan for insurance reform. As the Deputy is aware, neither the Minister for Finance nor the Central Bank of Ireland can direct the pricing or provision of insurance products. This position is reinforced by the EU Single Market framework for insurance, the Solvency II directive. Nevertheles…

I thank the Deputy for his supplementary contribution. As I have laid out, I have met seven of the nine major insurers at this stage. I have also met the representative bodies of the insurance industry, representatives of the Law Society of Ireland and the brokers, as well as representative groups in the hospitality industry, at a round table and in one-on-one meetings. I have another such meeting tomorrow. The Deputy asked about tangible gains for increased competition. As I mentioned, just last week OUTsurance, a…

I thank the Deputies for their supplementary questions. With regard to the issue raised by Deputy O'Sullivan, I was not aware of the specific issue with regard to modular builds and I will seek a conversation with the Minister, Deputy Foley, to see whether we can get resolution. It is of major concern to all of our constituencies. To respond to Deputy Durkan's point, we do work with the national claims information database and we do see this area. With regard to the points raised by Deputies Ó Murchú and Doherty, w…

I thank the Deputy for his question. However, I was a little bit confused and hope we might have a bit of clarification in our debate. There is a cap of €100,000, not €30,000, as is stated in the Deputy's question, on member savings, as outlined in Central Bank Regulation 35 of the Credit Union Act 1997 (Regulatory Requirements) Regulations 2016. As the Deputy is aware, the Central Bank makes all of its regulations independent of the Government. Individual credit unions may take business decisions to limit the amou…

As I stated, the maximum individual member savings limit is €100,000, which is a sizeable amount, particularly for most community groups. With the exception of large-scale sports capital grants, there are very few grants that we----

There is not a cap of €30,000. That is up to the individual credit union. The policy of the Central Bank is €100,000. The reason they have that is to ensure the protection of members' savings and to ensure that credit union funding continues to be sufficiently diversified and is not dependent on a small number of members. The Deputy knows how the credit union works. You need an array of members. It makes no difference whether you are saving €5 a month on behalf of a grandchild, or you are a body that is receiving a…

The Deputy might write to me with the specific nature of the query and representations being made. That might give me an opportunity to look at the matter in more detail and see what role I can play, cognisant of the independence of the Central Bank and also of the boards of individual credit unions. The most recent data we have is that 70% of credit unions have imposed their own member savings cap and the average there is about €49,000. The figure of €30,000 is way below both the actual cap implemented by the Cent…

We want them removed.

That is outrageous.

We launched a new low-cost loan last week.

We launched a new low-cost loan last week.

Grants of €25,000.

It only started on Tuesday.