Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 November 2020
291. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Finance the legislative steps planned to tackle the ongoing high cost of insurance, especially motor insurance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36698/20]
View answerThe Programme for Government sets out a range of commitments to reform the insurance sector, including to increase both the affordability and availability of cover. Work has begun to implement these. In this regard, a Sub-Group of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Recovery and Investment was established by Government to oversee insurance reform implementation, and held its first meeting on 30 September. This is chaired by the Tánaiste, and also includes as standing members, Ministers McGrath, McEntee, O’Gorman and myself, together with Ministers of State Troy and Fleming. I strongly believe this cross-departmental approach provides the best opportunity to address the cost and availability of insurance and will build and expand upon previous commendable work done by the Cost of Insurance Working Group (CIWG), which published its Eleventh and Final Progress Update report on 30 October.
By way of update, a new insurance reform Action Plan is being developed which will outline a range of deliverables, including potential legislation where required in a number of Government Department policy areas, and will be published before the end of the year. Work is already underway in relation to a number of areas, including:
- increasing market transparency following the publication of the second private motor report of the National Claims Information Database (NCID), and the planned expansion of the scope of the NCID to include employer and public liability insurance;
- reviewing duty of care legislation;
- providing for the Judicial Council’s accelerated adoption by 31 July 2021 of new personal injuries guidelines to replace the Book of Quantum;
- consideration by the Department of Justice of the Law Reform Commission’s recent Report on Capping Damages in Personal Injuries Actions, with a view to presenting options for progressing this by the end of the year;
- looking at how to further enhance the role of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board; and,
- making proposals on increasing competition in the Irish insurance market.
It is anticipated that the Sub-Group should be able to report on progress in relation to these before the end of this year. In addition to this work, there has been a fresh round of intensive engagement with key stakeholders. In this regard, Minister of State Fleming has held meetings with the Alliance for Insurance Reform; the State Claims Agency; Insurance Ireland; Irish Public Bodies Mutual Insurance; the Central Bank of Ireland; and Brokers Ireland. More recently, he has concluded a series of meetings with the main insurers in the Irish market. It is also his intention to meet shortly with the Law Society of Ireland, the Bar Council of Ireland and MIBI.
With regard to the issue of motor insurance premiums more specifically, I would draw the Deputy’s attention to data from the recently published second NCID Private Motor Insurance Report from the Central Bank. This shows that, after peaking in Q2 2018, the earned premium for private motor insurance decreased by 9 per cent up to the end of 2019. I would reasonably expect that the next year’s report will show further reductions in the average earned premiums for private motor insurance into 2020. Separately, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) in last week’s October Consumer Price Index, the private motor insurance component shows that premiums have reduced by about 30 per cent from their July 2016 peak. While for methodological reasons, these datasets are not directly comparable, both have indicated the same downward trend for some time. This reflects the positive work done by the CIWG, and it is the Government’s intention to build on this success.
In conclusion, seeking to secure a more sustainable and competitive market through deepening and widening the supply of insurance in Ireland remains a key priority issue for this Government. Minister of State Fleming and my Department will continue to play a lead role in this policy area.
