Vol. 547 No. 3
131 Mr. O'Shea asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment her proposals to assist hoteliers who were out of insurance cover for a period following the collapse of a company (details supplied) and have been successfully sued in regard to that period; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3615/02]
Independent Insurance Company Limited, IICL, is a UK authorised insurer. Accordingly, responsibility for ensuring that IICL could meet claims from its policy holders lay with the UK authorities who were responsible for the financial supervision of the company. The current position is that IICL is in provisional liquidation and the liquidation process will be dealt with under UK law. Companies, including hotels, with claims outstanding against IICL should pursue their cases with the provisional liquidators.
I appreciate the difficulties being faced by IICL policy holders. However, it would not be acceptable to burden Irish taxpayers with the inevitable cost that would be involved in meeting insurance claims, resulting from the failure of this UK company.
132 Mr. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the extent to which she will ensure ready access to competitive insurance cover, with particular reference to the need for such costs here to come in line with insurance costs in other jurisdictions; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3616/02]
Since the transposition into Irish Law of the EU Third Framework Insurance Directives in 1994, insurance companies authorised in any member state may provide insurance cover throughout the EU on the basis of their home country authorisation. This has opened up the Irish market to competition from insurance providers in other EU countries. In addition, the removal of the cap on brokers' commission will encourage further competition in the Irish market.
The decision of the Government to establish a personal injuries assessment board seeks to address the issue of the high cost of settling claims by achieving a reduction in the delivery cost of personal injury compensation. This should make the marketplace more attractive and encourage more entrants.
133 Mr. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the extent to which motor insurance costs here are comparable to those in other European jurisdictions; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3617/02]
Making accurate comparisons between motor insurance costs in Ireland and other European countries is difficult due to a number of factors such as type of insurance cover, age groups, types of vehicles and even regional differences within countries. There are also differences in how compensation for motor injuries is paid in countries such as France, Germany, Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden, who provide compensation benefits, almost exclusively, through the medium of social security benefits with a high level of earnings-related income support. Ireland, on the other hand, effectively operates two parallel systems of compensation provision, that is, a social security scheme of occupational injury benefits, paid on a flat-rate basis with increases for qualified dependants, while allowing unrestricted access to tort liability claims for compensation for loss of earnings and pain and suffering. The following table compares the average motor premium per vehicle in a number of European countries in 1997.
|
Country |
Vehicle Premium (ECUs) |
As a % of Ireland |
|
Ireland |
715 |
– |
|
Germany |
485 |
67.83% |
|
The Netherlands |
475 |
66.43% |
|
Denmark |
449 |
62.79% |
|
France |
445 |
62.23% |
|
Sweden |
293 |
40.97% |
