Ned O'Keeffe
Question:109 Mr. E. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment if he will lay before the Houses of the Oireachtas the Deloitte and Touche report regarding insurance costs in the State. [8264/96]
Written Answers. - Report on State Insurance Costs.
As the Deputy may be aware, the Minister of State with responsibility for Commerce, Science and Technology, Deputy Rabbitte, last year commissioned Deloitte and Touche, management consultants, to undertake an economic evaluation of insurance costs in Ireland. The report has not yet been submitted to the Minister, Deputy Rabbitte. However, my Department is at present examining a draft of the report recently sent to the Department by the consultants. It will be necessary to have further discussions with the consultants with a view to ensuring that the final report fully satisfies the terms of reference established for the study. My intention is that the study's conclusions and recommendations, based on expert economic evaluations, will provide a sound basis for the development of effective measures to reduce the burden of insurance costs on economic activity in Ireland.
There is no statutory obligation to lay the report before the Houses of the Oireachtas. The appropriate form of publication of the report will be considered following its finalisation. At this stage, I would, however, like to express my personal preference for a wide dissemination of the consultants' analysis, conclusions and recommendation.