Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 January 2017
40. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Finance if the cost of insurance working group has completed its deliberations and consultations; if the working group developed an action plan; the details of the plan and its implementation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1604/17]
View answer58. Deputy Martin Heydon asked the Minister for Finance the next steps to tackle rising motor insurance costs following the recent publication of the report of the working group; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1655/17]
View answer67. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Finance the way in which the Government's new motor insurance policies will result in affordable premiums; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1652/17]
View answer317. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Finance the status of the report of the working group examining spiralling motor insurance costs; when he envisages the findings being acted upon in the interests of motorists who have seen huge hikes in premiums; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1758/17]
View answerThe Minister is aware that the cost of motor insurance has increased significantly in recent years - by 11% in 2014, 13% in 2015 and approximately 28% for the 12 months to August 2016. The Government's response has been the publication of the working group's report with 31 recommendation and more than 70 actions. What are the key recommendations and how soon does the Minister anticipate that the recommendations, when implemented, will have an impact on motor insurance premiums?
I propose to take Questions Nos. 40, 58, 67 and 317 together. The working group on the cost of motor insurance, chaired by the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, completed its report in December 2016. The report, which was approved by the Government on 10 January 2017 and subsequently published, contains 33 recommendations and 71 actions. These are detailed in an action plan with agreed timelines for implementation covering six main themes, namely, protecting the consumer, improving data availability, improving the personal injuries claims environment, reducing the costs in the claims process, reducing insurance fraud and uninsured driving, and promoting road safety and reducing collisions.
The recommendations include actions to: address the lack of transparency in the claims environment through the establishment of a national claims information database which will be located in the Central Bank; provide enhanced guidance in how to determine compensation for personal injuries claims through the establishment of a personal injuries commission; address the increasing level of uninsured driving through the establishment of a fully functioning database which will allow gardaí to check insurance compliance through the use of technology such as Automatic Number Plate Recognition, ANPR; and address the issue of suspected fraud through the establishment of a database, funded by industry but held by an independent body, which will take into account data protection concerns. A number of the actions are already underway and I am confident that all of the report's 71 actions will be implemented by the end of 2018, with 45 due for completion this year.
While there is no silver bullet to reduce the cost of insurance, co-operation and commitment between all parties can deliver fairer premiums for consumers without unnecessary delay. This will lead to greater stability in the pricing of motor insurance and will help prevent the volatility that we have seen in the market in the past. It should also better facilitate potential new entrants to the market.
The working group will continue to meet in 2017 as the project enters its implementation phase.
I thank the Minister for his reply. I welcome the report which is very similar to the Fianna Fáil policy document that was published last summer and the report from the Finance Committee published in November. My concern is with the urgency of its implementation. I am not going to go through all of the actions contained in the report but will highlight one or two. The very first recommendation is that insurers should set out reasons for large increases in premiums to provide transparency to consumers. However, the action point associated with that recommendation, to develop legislation to underpin the protocol, is only going to happen in quarter four of 2017. It is that type of delay in the Government's response that concerns me. The implementation will not bring about a reduction in premiums quickly enough.
I would like to see four of five of the key actions being identified and fast tracked. Not all actions will have an equal impact in terms of reducing motor insurance premiums. The Minister mentioned, for example, the issue of uninsured drivers, which is one of the key issues likely to affect premiums to the greatest extent. If such issues could be fast tracked, that would be a welcome move. The report contains 33 recommendations and more than 70 actions but some of them will be delivered too slowly. If the Department picks the first half dozen that could have the greatest impact, we could do better in terms of reducing premiums.
The Minister of State, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, whose work generated the report, is very conscious of the need to press on now to the implementation phase and to prioritise the implementation actions. He is getting the co-operation of the industry, hopefully, to do this. He is also conscious of the fact that there is no silver bullet that will bring down premiums overnight but if a new base is established for motor insurance in this country, that should stabilise the situation. There should be gradual reductions and no sudden, dramatic increases like those we have seen in the last 18 months.
I will allow the Deputy to ask a further short supplementary question.
I do not disagree with what the Minister is saying but I am concerned that some of the particular actions referred to by the Minister this evening have delivery dates of the end of this year or 2018. As I said already, the Minister referred to uninsured drivers but the actions to deal with that are only going to be put in place at the end of 2017 or in 2018. Some of those actions should be fast tracked because they would have a significant impact on premiums.
I will bring the Deputy's views to the attention of the Minister of State, Deputy Eoghan Murphy.
