Law Society commends Pearse Doherty TD

Careful cross-examination exposes insurance industry spin.

Responding to Pearse Doherty TD’s detailed questioning of the insurance sector in recent days, Law Society of Ireland Director General Ken Murphy said, “Deputy Doherty is to be commended for devastatingly exposing the soaring super-profits insurance companies are enjoying.” 

The Law Society echoes Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan’s praise for Deputy Doherty’s cross-examination of insurers, and his call for the industry to do more to reduce costs. Mr Murphy said, “Pearse Doherty’s questions laid bare the insurers' distraction technique of blaming false and exaggerated claims, rather than their own profiteering, for the excessive premiums that threaten the survival of so many Irish businesses.”

“It is now clear that insurers are making enormous profits while Irish businesses struggle to pay exorbitant premiums,” Mr Murphy said. “We are glad to see political recognition that it is insurance companies, themselves, not the victims of accidents, the judiciary or the legal profession, who must answer for the incredibly burdensome premiums they are choosing to charge their customers.”

“It is also clear that a primary source of false and misleading claims in this public debate is the insurance industry itself,” Mr Murphy added. “In the light of what Deputy Doherty's fearless and forensic questioning has exposed about false and exaggerated claims, should the insurers not report themselves to the Gardaí?”

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