In moving the adjournment of the House, I should like to draw the attention of the Government, through the Minister who is present, to the need for an early consideration of the possibility of providing some type of war-risk insurance in this country. We are aware that An Taoiseach and others have warned us that we are within what he calls the war zone and that we cannot ignore the possibility of certain danger. I do not want anything that I should say to exaggerate in any way that danger or to add to any uneasiness, but the dangers of the moment are further emphasised by the action taken in the Dáil last night which I think everybody in this House will thoroughly approve and which we all hope will meet with the greatest possible success. That action shows the need for our standing together in every possible way at the present time. Now, it seems to me that if people are going to stand together, and if it should be necessary to take action and to take risks, they will do so with very much more confidence if some provision has been made by which property losses will be shared all round. That, to my mind, can only be done satisfactorily through some system of war-risk insurance. It also seems to me that at the present time it is extremely important that every person should carry on normally as far as possible, and that there should be no restriction of trade, business, or anything else, just because we have been warned that there may conceivably be a certain amount of danger. Already, it has come to my notice that certain persons, who have fairly considerable stocks and who have to carry considerable stocks as part of their business, are restricting buying because they feel that the personal risk of carrying stocks is too great. I suggest that, if you are going to maintain employment, and if you are going to maintain business during the period in which we may be subject to a possible risk, the maintenance of that employment and that business will be greatly facilitated by providing some method whereby persons, firms, or businesses can insure their stocks.
I do not know what the exact position is in England, but I think it is the same as in the Six Counties, and in the Six Counties a business with which I have intimate knowledge is able to insure its stocks, which are very considerable—in fact, it is compulsory to insure—and the rate since the beginning of the war, or at any rate since one month afterwards, has been 5/- per cent. per month. As far as I know, a scheme has been worked out in Great Britain also. I do not think that that covers private houses, and I do not know what the position is with regard to farms, but I am very strongly of the opinion that the Government should give this matter very careful consideration. To my mind, it is very important in the case of industries, factories, warehouses, shops and all types of businesses that employ a fair number of people and where substantial stocks have to be carried. Should the worst happen here—which we all hope and pray will not be the case— and a certain amount of damage be done, it would be done, judging by, say, the case of Finland, in a relatively small portion of the total area of the country, but it might be absolutely vital in maintaining the national spirit of the people that they should feel that the losses would be unquestionably shared by everybody, including those who were more fortunate.
In addition to that, I know that there is a certain amount of uneasiness, due to the fact that a very large number of our shop-keepers, factory-owners and businessmen generally— and, I think, farmers also — have to borrow from banks from time to time against the security of their business, in which case, very often, their greatest asset is the amount of stocks they deal with, and if such firms or companies found that substantial destruction took place, they would be placed in the position that they could not carry on at all and, possibly, could not go to their banks for any further accommodation; whereas, in normal circumstances, if the same property had been destroyed by, let us say, fire, and had been insured in the ordinary course, as soon as the banks were satisfied that the matter of insurance was in order, the banks would be quite willing to facilitate the owner of the property concerned by giving him a loan to enable him to start his business again as soon as possible. As a rule, if things are found to be in order, the banks are very ready to facilitate persons in that way.
For these and many other reasons that I could give, I believe that, as part and parcel of the steps that should be taken in connection with what we may call the crisis, which we are told is now before us—although I think that that crisis has been in existence for a much longer time than some of us seem to realise—I think that there should be some provision made for war-risk insurance. I am not putting this matter forward in any critical or Party sense, but I am putting it forward as a matter to which I think the Government should give careful attention. I have been informed by the manager of one leading insurance company that such a matter could not be considered by ordinary insurance companies, and that any such scheme would have to be arranged in conjunction with the State, as, I believe, is the case in Great Britain. I am bringing forward this matter to-day because I know that it is agitating the minds of a large number of people, many of whom have spoken to me, and because I believe that it is a matter that should be taken into consideration as soon as possible.
