The Minister for Industry and Commerce has been called to the Dáil for one of his Bills so I have been asked to take the Second Stage of this Bill.
This Bill proposes to amend the Insurance Act, 1953. That Act authorises the Minister for Industry and Commerce, for the purpose of encouraging exports, to make arrangements, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, for giving guarantees in connection with the export of goods or the rendering of services. Under the existing legislation the aggregate amount of the liability of the Minister for principal moneys may not exceed £2 million. The purpose of this Amending Bill is to raise the statutory limit of £2 million provided for in the 1953 Act to £5 million in order to provide for the growing demand for political risks insurance cover under the Act as a result of the increase in the volume of exports.
The aggregate potential liability of the Minister under political risks insurance policies in force at 31st March, 1961, was over £1½ million. With the increasing demand for insurance cover under the Act, it is probable that the limit of £2 million will be reached in the near future and it is necessary to raise this limit. I think £5 million is a suitable figure. The aggregate potential liability would, of course, become an actual liability only if all the risks covered by the insurance policies materialised. As Senators will, no doubt, appreciate this in an entirely remote contingency.
The present Bill will make possible the continuance on an increasing scale of insurance cover against certain risks which are inseparable from the export trade and which are of a type that cannot normally be covered by insurance or otherwise guarded against by commercial means. The Bill is, therefore, designed to facilitate a continued expansion of our exports.
