Director General of the Law Society of Ireland Ken Murphy said, “It is astonishing to see insurance company, FBD Holdings, posting huge pre-tax profits in the current climate of spiralling insurance costs. FBD said yesterday it planned to more than double its dividend to its shareholders releasing tens of millions in unused claims reserves. Yet at the same time, the insurance industry is calling for injury victims’ claims to be reduced.”

“Insurance companies are making enormous profits while Irish businesses, by FBD’s own admission, are struggling to pay the huge premiums insurance companies are setting and in some cases cannot get insured at all. How can this be the case?”

“FBD, and the insurance industry as a whole, have a lot of questions to answer.”

“The Law Society has continuously warned that simply reducing the compensation awards paid to victims of injury will only serve to boost the earnings of already hugely profitable insurance companies. I think today’s results and comments from FBD are clear evidence of that fact.”

“The bottom line is that there is absolutely no evidence that reducing damages will result in lower premiums. The effect of reducing damages will merely be to take from the pockets of injured victims of negligence in order to line the pockets of an increasingly profitable insurance industry.”

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