Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 October 2018
108. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance the progress of the report on the development of the business insurance price index by the CSO as recommended by the Cost of Insurance Working Group; when the report will be published; when such an index will be up and running; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43072/18]
View answerIncreasing the availability of data in relation to Employer and Public Liability Insurance is a matter which was discussed by the Cost of Insurance Working Group and its Report on the Cost of Employer and Public Liability Insurance (2018) recommends a number of actions to improve transparency in this area.
Among these, Recommendation 1 requires the Central Statistics Office to consider the feasibility of collecting price information on the cost of insurance to businesses with this exercise to commence by the end of Q2 2018. This recommendation also requires the CSO to report to my Department by Q4 2018 with the outcome of its review, and if it considers such an index feasible, to make appropriate proposals.
The Deputy will be aware that the last Cost of Insurance Working Group update report, published in August, outlined that the Central Statistics Office (CSO) had commenced working on the feasibility study in May. While the next Update Report for Q3 2018 is due to be published in the coming weeks, my officials have been informed by the CSO that it has continued with the discovery phase of its project in Q3 2018 and has met with insurance companies and market participants. In that respect, the CSO has been concentrating on devising a sampling methodology and has been working closely with insurance companies to develop customer profiles and sample data. I also understand that the CSO has explored alternative data sources and engaged with other National Statistical Institutes (NSIs). The CSO intends to compile the results of this work into a report for the Cost of Insurance Working Group before the end of 2018.
Finally, with regard to when an index would be up and running, I cannot comment at this stage as I do not want to pre-empt the results of the CSO’s work to consider the feasibility of such an index. In that respect, the Deputy will appreciate that the CSO has stated previously that there will be significant methodological and practical challenges that will need to be overcome in order to produce a price index for business insurance, as the market for business insurance is far more heterogeneous compared to the relatively homogeneous market for motor insurance. This creates difficulties when trying to decide on the product or service which must be tracked consistently over time.
In conclusion, I am satisfied that the CSO is conducting its study with a view to being able to submit the outcome of its review, and if it considers such an index feasible, make appropriate proposals by the end of this year.
