ISME welcomes insurance measures

ISME, the business lobby group, has said it welcomed the interim report by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Enterprise and Small Business into reform of the Insurance market.

The association said it is impressed by the committee's willingness to hold insurance companies partly accountable for the current crisis.

It emphasised that it hopes the Government will take on board the recommendations, so that the Oireachtas Committee is not seen as just another talking shop without authoritative powers.

Since the start of the year, insurance costs have increased by 52% on average for small and medium sized businesses. This is on top of an average 71% increase last year and 50% hike the previous year - a cumulative average increase of 290%.

ISME chief executive Mark Fielding said: "While Insurance companies continue to preach to the rest of us, insurance costs continue to rocket and jobs are being lost.

"The association estimates that over 100 companies have closed resulting in 3,000 job losses."