Under the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the EU Commission has exclusive competence for competition law, including conducting investigations into alleged infringements of Article 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU. As the investigation referred to by the Deputy is an EU-led live investigation, it is not appropriate for me as Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to comment on this matter. Similarly, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) is the statutory independent body responsible for the enforcement of domestic and EU competition law in the State. Section 9 (5) of the Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2014 provides that the CCPC is independent in the performance of its functions. I, as Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, have no direct function in such matters.
The issue of regulation of the insurance industry is primarily a matter for the Minister for Finance while policy responsibility for motor insurance lies with the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport.
Officials from my Department have been an integral part of the Cost of Insurance Working Group since its establishment. The first phase of the Group’s work involved an examination of the Motor Insurance sector. Following approval from Government, a Report was published on the Cost of Motor Insurance on 10 January 2017 which contains 33 recommendations. My Department has specific responsibility for 5 of these recommendations with 10 action points which are all on target with the required timelines.
4 of the action points were due for completion before end-Q2 2017. The first of these was to establish a Personal Injuries Commission (PIC). The purpose of the PIC is to investigate and make recommendations on processes in other jurisdictions which could enhance the claims process in Ireland. The terms of reference include the benchmarking of international awards for personal injury cases, analysing and reporting on international compensation levels and compensation mechanisms. The PIC was established in January 2017 and is being chaired by former President of the High Court, Mr. Justice Nicholas Kearns. The PIC is due to issue an interim report by the end of 2017 and is on target to achieve this. The other 3 actions for completion by end-Q2 2017 have been addressed by the publication of the General Scheme of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) Bill. The General Scheme was approved by Government on June 27th and was published on my Department’s website on June 30th. The General Scheme has been sent to the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel for drafting and has also been sent to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation for pre-legislative scrutiny.
