Ciarán Cannon
Question:141. Deputy Ciarán Cannon asked the Minister for Finance if he will provide an update on ‘pinch point’ areas in insurance. [3104/23]
View answerTuesday, 24 January 2023
Questions (141)
Written answers
At the outset, I wish to reassure the Deputy that I recognise the concerns felt by many individuals and businesses across the country around the cost and availability of insurance cover. Accordingly, Government has prioritised insurance reform through the Action Plan for Insurance Reform. As the Deputy may be aware, the Third Action Plan Implementation Report demonstrates that 90 percent of the 66 actions contained therein are either delivered or initiated.
There are clear signs that the market is responding to the Government’s reform agenda, with insurers moving into areas that had previously proved problematic such as: inflatables hire; equestrian activities; childcare; and non-standard buildings. However, Government recognises that some ‘pinch-points’ remain, largely in high-footfall, public-facing areas involving public liability insurance. Data from the Central Bank indicates that the public liability market has been loss-making for a number of years, and consequently insurers appear reluctant to commit to this specific area. At the same time, this more specialised market segment is also very closely linked to global insurance trends, and is therefore slower to reflect the changes being delivered through the Government reform agenda than what is usually considered as more commoditised insurance products, such as motor cover.
Key to addressing this issue is rebalancing the Duty of Care legislation. This is now a Government priority and is being led by the Department of Justice. Overhauling this area of law should help to address the issue of ‘slips, trips and falls’, which are particularly prevalent in heavy-footfall areas and could potentially unlock further liability insurance capacity, including in niche segments.
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to assure the Deputy that it is Government's intention to ensure that implementation of the Action Plan will have a positive impact on the affordability and availability of insurance across all sectors in the economy.