Vol. 431 No. 1
71 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment if the interdepartmental committee set up by the previous Government has concluded its report relating to the cost of motor insurance with particular reference to the measures or proposals to reduce this cost; if he will quantify the benefits to the motorist; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The measures identified by the former Inter-Ministerial Group on Motor Insurance (IMG) designed to improve the cost environment for insurance addressed the problems of the high claims frequency and the costs, mainly legal costs, associated with the settlement of personal injury claims.
Thus, the measures were aimed at reducing the road accident rate, the incidence of dangerous, drunken and uninsured driving and the effectiveness and the efficiency of the legal system in the settling of personal injury actions in the Courts. Responsibility for the implementation of the measures, whether by legislation or otherwise, rests with the Ministers for the Environment and Justice.
A comprehensive list of the measures identified by the IMG were given in this House, most notably on 2nd and 3rd of July, 1991. The main items identified by the IMG include a number of positive proposals by the Minister for Justice, in relation to strict and sustained enforcement of existing road traffic legislation (via the Gardaí), the Courts (No. 2) Act which increased the jurisdiction of the lower courts and the proposed Court and Court Officers Bill which is designed to further improve the operation of the courts. In addition the Minister for the Environment proposes amendments to the Road Traffic Acts designed to reduce the accident rate and a new Road Traffic Bill which will introduce harsher penalties for dangerous, drunken and uninsured driving, including the impounding of uninsured vehicles.
Despite the relative success of a number of measures identified by the former IMG, I am convinced that we will not get a substantial reduction in premiums unless we cap awards for pain and suffering in insurance cases. I am not suggesting at all that people should not be compensated fully for medical, hospital bills and loss of earnings after an accident, but the balance of the award (the pain and suffering element) is totally out of proportion with the rest of the EC with average awards in Ireland almost 50 per cent higher than the UK and over 70 per cent higher than the EC average.
