Insurance industry makes E25m profit

THE 2002 annual report (the Blue Book) into the insurance industry showed the sector returning to profits after a few difficult years.

It paves the way for cuts in the cost of motor and other insurance, Tánaiste and Enterprise, Trade and Employment Minister Mary Harney, said yesterday.

Irish authorised companies turned in an underwriting profit of 25 million last year after being bBadly dented by the downturn in the stock markets which hit their investment returns in 2001.