It is an appalling state of affairs that a major enterprise centre in Dublin, the Liffey Trust, which burned to the ground recently, had no insurance cover. It sustained about 250 jobs and 40 businesses. Its founder, Mr. Séamus McDermott, has said that he could not secure insurance for the building, which will cost €7 million to replace. Perhaps the City Enterprise Board and the Minister of State's Department will have to find some of that funding. It is appalling that we have reached this juncture in dealing with insurance matters. Does the Minister of State agree that the key responsibility for this rests with the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Harney? For five and a half years she has dithered and done nothing about the most important problem facing the economy.
As I told Dublin City Council yesterday, it is time the Tánaiste resigned over her handling of the insurance industry, which constitutes a desperate state of affairs. I am a director of a number of small business centres in Dublin, a number of which are faced with the same difficulties in obtaining insurance cover. Every headmaster and school board of management has the same problem, as do parents of young drivers. The insurance issue is affecting the economy across the board, yet the Tánaiste has spent almost six years doing nothing about it.
At the very least, the Tánaiste should ask the Equality Authority to investigate premium costs for young drivers. As a result of the first report of the Motor Insurance Advisory Board, chaired by Ms Dorothea Dowling, we know that young men and women are being ripped off in a grotesque manner. The Tánaiste should order the Equality Authority to investigate this matter and produce a report on it urgently.