Vol. 521 No. 4
55 Mr. Haughey asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the plans, if any, she has to regulate the motor insurance industry; if this market will be opened up to other EU companies; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17279/00]
Neither the Tánaiste nor I, nor our Department or the Government, has any statutory control over the premiums levied by insurance companies, nor do we have the right to influence the criteria used for covering risk. Our responsibility is to ensure the solvency of insurance companies, so as to safeguard the cover granted to a policyholder and the capability of each company to meet the financial liabilities of its claims responsibilities.
The formation of the EU Single Market for insurance in 1994, granted access to the Irish motor insurance market to all authorised insurance companies within the EU. This encourages as many insurers as possible to compete on the Irish market so that the Irish consumer is getting the most competitive quotes from the insurance companies availing of the opportunity to compete on the Irish market.
