Vol. 567 No. 1
144 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the 13 recommendations of the Motor Insurance Advisory Board that, according to her reply to Parliamentary Question No. 112 of 15 April 2003, cannot be implemented at present; the reason for the inability to proceed each individual recommendation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13390/03]
The 13 recommendations in question were the 11 relating to IFSRA, and recommendations numbered 34 and 57. Those relating to the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority, IFSRA, are now being progressed since IFSRA was established on a statutory basis on 1st May 2003.
Recommendation No. 34 relates to the Department of Transport. It deals with amending the Road Traffic Acts to require insurance on the vehicle as in mainland Europe, rather than requiring the user of the vehicle to be insured as is the case in Ireland and the United Kingdom. Implementation would involve fundamental changes in the arrangements for motor insurance in Ireland. The complex risk assessment and civil liability issues and potential costs and advantages of implementation will have to be evaluated before coming to a decision. In this context I note that the report of the implementation group in August 2002 estimated that implementation of recommendation 34 would have no impact on costs.
Recommendation No. 57 refers to "not increasing the financial limits of the court". This is to prevent further increases in claims costs and in legal fees. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform will not commence the relevant provision, which would increase financial limits of the Courts and Courts Officers Act 2002 until the personal injuries assessment Board has been in operation for a period and experience is available on the extent of its effect on the case load of the courts. In effect, by not commencing the relevant provision in the Courts and Courts Officers Act 2002, the MIAB recommendation is being implemented, to the extent that the financial limits of the courts are not being increased. No action is required at present. Experience gained when PIAB has been in operation for some time will then be considered for future action in this matter.
