RGDATA, has called on the Government to immediately introduce emergency measures to prevent further business closures due to high insurance costs.
'The group believes that strong action needs to be taken by Government if the behaviour of the two key vested interests involved is to really change,' the organisation representing the independent retail grocery sector in Ireland said in a statement.
Specifically, RGDATA is 'proposing that the Government should copy the approach taken to dealing with bankers’ bonuses by introducing a Supertax on the profits of insurance companies, if the levels of premiums do not start to come down sharply.'
“When bankers threatened to reintroduce bonuses for top staff at a time when many customers were struggling, the Government responded with a Supertax which stopped bankers in their tracks, Tara Buckley, Director General, RGDATA said.
"The prospect of a similar tax on insurers, whether through a levy on them or otherwise in October’s budget would be a game changer. It would compel them to adjust their behaviour and actions or else face penal taxation rates. The choice would be theirs.
"At present the insurers are benefitting from the reform but channelling their change into their shareholders’ pockets rather than supporting their struggling policy holders. This has to stop now.”
New Responsibilities
Buckley also called for new responsibilities to be imposed on solicitors prosecuting personal injury claims on behalf of clients. In light of changes requiring solicitors to verify the authenticity of asylum claims, she said that similar measures should be imposed on personal injury cases.
Buckley said that it was now patently clear that the insurance crisis will not be solved until the Government actively tackles the vested interests in the insurance and legal sectors who have so far presented themselves as uninvolved spectators.
“A tough and unrelenting approach is required from Government now – otherwise more businesses will close, jobs will be lost and communities will lose key services and community facilities, Buckley added.
The Government needs to tackle the vested interests holding up progress in this area by targeting them where it will make a difference.”
© 2019 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Donna Ahern. Click sign-up to subscribe to Checkout.
