Business Insurance: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members]
The following motion was moved by Deputy Michael McGrath on Wednesday, 21 March 2018.
That Dáil Éireann:
recognises that:
— micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises currently employ nearly 970,000 people in Ireland according to the Central Statistics Office, which represents around 44 per cent of all those employed;
— the cost of doing business in Ireland has been cited by the National Competitiveness Council as a major concern;
— many businesses are reporting large increases in employer and public liability insurance premiums;
— the cost of employer liability insurance and public liability insurance is a direct threat to the competitiveness and sustainability of many businesses throughout the country, including micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises;
— the greater use of insurance excess and insurance exclusions is increasing the cost of insurance by the back door;
— without urgent action, insurance premiums will soon become unsustainable for many businesses;
— as a result, a greater number of businesses will not take out insurance at all and this practice is extremely risky and threatens the viability of the businesses involved;
— there is currently no data collected tracking the changes in premiums for employer liability and public liability, which means the problem remains under the surface;
— the Cost of Insurance Working Group has set a deadline of the end of 2018 for the feasibility study for creating such an index, which implies that the index will not be in place until well into 2019 if not later;
— the Central Bank of Ireland has a deadline of the end of 2019 for a feasibility study on whether employer liability and public liability insurance data should be included in the National Claims Information Database;
— insurance fraud is one of the many reasons why insurance premiums are high and no data is currently published by the Courts Service on the number of instances of fraudulent and exaggerated claims;
— in many instances, insurance companies are not challenging claims they believe to be dubious and potentially fraudulent;
— there is a real or perceived lack of consistency in the awards handed out for personal injury claims;
— the second report from the Personal Injury Commission on benchmarking personal injury claims in Ireland versus other jurisdictions is urgently required; and
— insurance companies use non-disclosure at the point of a claim rather than at the policy proposal stage in order to avoid the payment of a claim; and
calls on the Government to:
— urgently tackle the 15 action points in the Cost of the Insurance Working Group's Report on the Cost of Employer and Public Liability Insurance that are due to be completed in the first half of this year;
— legally oblige insurers to provide a breakdown of the premium cost to the business and to provide more information to the business on how premiums are calculated;
— ensure that the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) Book of Quantum is updated at least once every three years;
— ensure that the research on the PIAB Book of Quantum is based on medical evidence and cost, not solely on historic claims;
— bring forward the deadline for the feasibility study on including employer liability and public liability data on the National Claims Information Database from the fourth quarter of 2019;
— work towards creating a single European market for insurance to better enable businesses to shop around for employer and public liability insurance;
— bring in tougher penalties, both financial and otherwise, for insurance fraud and claim exaggeration;
— establish a declined insurance mechanism for employer and public liability insurance;
— legally oblige insurance companies to notify policyholders of claims made against them before settlement, the amount a claim was settled for and the reasons why the claim was settled; and
— bring forward the deadline for the Department of Finance and the Central Statistics Office to report on the creation of a price index for employer and public liability insurance premiums, and urgently establish such an index.
Debate resumed on amendment No. 1:
(a) To insert the following after “in order to avoid the payment of a claim; and”:
"-- insurance contract law in Ireland is outdated and in many ways archaic;”
and
(b) To insert the following after “and urgently establish such an index.”:
“and
-- immediately provide a Money Message so that the Consumer Insurance Contracts Bill 2017 can proceed to Committee Stage.”
- (Deputy Maurice Quinlivan)
Amendment put:
The Dáil divided: Tá, 88; Níl, 47; Staon, 0.
Tá
- Aylward, Bobby.
- Barry, Mick.
- Boyd Barrett, Richard.
- Brady, John.
- Brassil, John.
- Breathnach, Declan.
- Broughan, Thomas P.
- Browne, James.
- Buckley, Pat.
- Burton, Joan.
- Butler, Mary.
- Byrne, Thomas.
- Cahill, Jackie.
- Calleary, Dara.
- Casey, Pat.
- Cassells, Shane.
- Chambers, Jack.
- Chambers, Lisa.
- Collins, Joan.
- Collins, Michael.
- Collins, Niall.
- Connolly, Catherine.
- Coppinger, Ruth.
- Cowen, Barry.
- Crowe, Seán.
- Cullinane, David.
- Curran, John.
- Doherty, Pearse.
- Donnelly, Stephen S.
- Dooley, Timmy.
- Ellis, Dessie.
- Ferris, Martin.
- Fleming, Sean.
- Funchion, Kathleen.
- Grealish, Noel.
- Harty, Michael.
- Haughey, Seán.
- Healy, Seamus.
- Howlin, Brendan.
- Kelleher, Billy.
- Kelly, Alan.
- Kenny, Gino.
- Kenny, Martin.
- Lahart, John.
- MacSharry, Marc.
- Martin, Catherine.
- Martin, Micheál.
- McConalogue, Charlie.
- McDonald, Mary Lou.
- McGrath, Mattie.
- McGrath, Michael.
- McGuinness, John.
- Mitchell, Denise.
- Moynihan, Aindrias.
- Moynihan, Michael.
- Munster, Imelda.
- Murphy O'Mahony, Margaret.
- Murphy, Catherine.
- Murphy, Eugene.
- Murphy, Paul.
- O'Brien, Darragh.
- O'Brien, Jonathan.
- O'Callaghan, Jim.
- O'Keeffe, Kevin.
- O'Loughlin, Fiona.
- O'Reilly, Louise.
- O'Rourke, Frank.
- O'Sullivan, Jan.
- O'Sullivan, Maureen.
- Ó Broin, Eoin.
- Ó Caoláin, Caoimhghín.
- Ó Cuív, Éamon.
- Ó Laoghaire, Donnchadh.
- Ó Snodaigh, Aengus.
- Penrose, Willie.
- Pringle, Thomas.
- Quinlivan, Maurice.
- Rabbitte, Anne.
- Ryan, Brendan.
- Ryan, Eamon.
- Scanlon, Eamon.
- Sherlock, Sean.
- Shortall, Róisín.
- Smith, Brendan.
- Smith, Bríd.
- Smyth, Niamh.
- Stanley, Brian.
- Tóibín, Peadar.
Níl
- Bailey, Maria.
- Barrett, Seán.
- Breen, Pat.
- Brophy, Colm.
- Bruton, Richard.
- Burke, Peter.
- Byrne, Catherine.
- Canney, Seán.
- Cannon, Ciarán.
- Carey, Joe.
- Corcoran Kennedy, Marcella.
- Coveney, Simon.
- Creed, Michael.
- D'Arcy, Michael.
- Deasy, John.
- Deering, Pat.
- Donohoe, Paschal.
- Durkan, Bernard J.
- English, Damien.
- Farrell, Alan.
- Fitzgerald, Frances.
- Fitzpatrick, Peter.
- Harris, Simon.
- Heydon, Martin.
- Kehoe, Paul.
- Kyne, Seán.
- Lowry, Michael.
- Madigan, Josepha.
- McGrath, Finian.
- McHugh, Joe.
- McLoughlin, Tony.
- Mitchell O'Connor, Mary.
- Moran, Kevin Boxer.
- Murphy, Eoghan.
- Naughten, Denis.
- Naughton, Hildegarde.
- Neville, Tom.
- Noonan, Michael.
- O'Connell, Kate.
- O'Donovan, Patrick.
- O'Dowd, Fergus.
- Phelan, John Paul.
- Ring, Michael.
- Rock, Noel.
- Ross, Shane.
- Stanton, David.
- Zappone, Katherine.
Staon
Tellers: Tá, Deputies Aengus Ó Snodaigh and Denise Mitchell; Níl, Deputies Joe McHugh and Tony McLoughlin.
Amendment declared carried.
Motion, as amended, agreed to.