Vol. 540 No. 1
147 Cecilia Keaveney asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the position in relation to having policies developed to ensure that car insurance for young people is made more accessible; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19912/01]
Motor insurance premia are normally based on underwriting experience including trends in the level, frequency and cost of claims, for particular risks and classes of risk and are a matter of judgment by individual private insurance companies.
EU law prevents me or our Department from intervening directly with the insurance companies in the matter of premium levels, or in respect of the risks that they are prepared to underwrite. 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.
The work of the Motor Insurance Advisory Board, which I established in 1998, is aimed at providing us with information and advice on trends in motor insurance costs and with policy recommendations for addressing those costs. The issue of the high cost of insurance for young drivers is especially being examined by the board. The board's final report is expected by the end of this year and in the light of the recommendations of the board, the Government and I will consider what further action is appropriate and necessary in order to reduce the cost of motor insurance.
The Deputy will be aware that the Government recently decided to proceed with the main recommendation of the report of the Special Working Group on Personal Injury Compensation. The proposal is to establish on a statutory basis a personal injuries assessment board, which will commence its first stage early in 2002, with an initial mandate to address personal injury claims arising from employers' liability insurance and later those relating to motor accidents.
