Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 July 2022
284. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Finance the engagement by his Department and Government agencies with foreign or overseas insurance companies with a view to increasing the number of providers in the public liability insurance market in the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39162/22]
View answerInsurance reform is a key priority for this Government as evidenced by the fact that implementation of the Action Plan on Insurance Reform is overseen by the Cabinet Sub-Group on insurance reform. The second Implementation Report, which was published on 1 March 2022, shows that 80 per cent of the actions contained in the Action Plan are now being delivered.
The establishment of the Office to Promote Competition in the Insurance Market, which is chaired by Minister of State Fleming, is a Programme for Government commitment. Its aims are to help expand the risk appetite of existing insurers and explore opportunities for new market entrants in order to increase the availability of insurance.
Since its establishment, the Office has held over 90 meetings with a range of stakeholders, including insurance companies and representative stakeholder organisations. As part of this, the Office is working closely with IDA Ireland to help leverage the ongoing insurance reforms with the aim of targeting new entrants to the Irish market, or persuading current incumbents to expand their risk appetite. This will, in the first instance, target providers who offer insurance in areas which have been identified as ‘pinch-points’ in the Irish market, such as the leisure sector and other sectors having difficulty in obtaining public liability insurance. Due to the successes of the Government reform agenda, such as the implementation of the Personal Injuries Guidelines which have now reduced awards by an average of 40 per cent, I am confident that the IDA now has a very positive message to deliver. Upcoming developments, such as the reform of the Duty of Care, will further enhance this by addressing the issue of ‘slips, trips and falls’ which is particularly prevalent in high-footfall/high-risk public-facing sectors. There are positive indications of some firms expanding their risk appetite into a number of these areas.
Finally, the recent NCID report contains much that is encouraging. It demonstrates that 57 per cent of ‘packaged’ EL/PL/commercial property policies had premiums of less than €1,000 and 92 per cent less than €5,000. Only 2 per cent had premiums over €25,000.
I wish to assure the Deputies of my intention to work with my Government colleagues to ensure further implementation of the Action Plan which should have a positive impact on the affordability and availability of insurance for all consumers.
