Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 25 October 2018
12. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Finance the status of the implementation of the report on the cost of insurance working group for motor insurance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43967/18]
Amharc ar fhreagra43. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Finance the position regarding implementing recommendations of the cost of insurance working group for motor insurance; the number of recommendations which are delayed; his plans to deal with delayed items; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43968/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 12 and 43 together.
The Cost of Insurance Working Group’s Report on the Cost of Motor Insurance was published in January 2017 and makes 33 recommendations with 71 associated actions to be carried out in agreed timeframes, set out in an Action Plan.
In line with the commitment to publish quarterly update reports on the implementation of the recommendations of the Motor Report, the Working Group has published six such updates, most recently on August 30th last. It shows that of the 56 separate applicable deadlines within the Action Plan set to the end of Q2 2018, 44 relate to actions which have been completed. Substantial work has also been undertaken in respect of the nine action points categorised as “ongoing”.
In respect of the 12 actions which were not fully completed by the end of Q2 2018 as scheduled, six relate to legislative issues, while legislation is being considered for another due to a lack of agreement with industry. Two other outstanding actions are related to the same recommendation and require the establishment of the new Office of the Legal Costs Adjudicators, while another is contingent on the development of a register of personal injuries proceedings by the Courts Service. The remaining two actions both relate to Recommendation 26, which requires the approval of both the Minister for Justice and Equality and the Garda Commissioner for potentially far-reaching cooperative mechanisms between Insurance Ireland and An Garda Síochána to be formalised.
It should be recognised that significant progress has been made in respect of the implementation of all 12 of these aforementioned actions, most particularly regarding legislation to establish a new National Claims Information Database. Also, it must be acknowledged that the average cost of motor insurance has been consistently falling since the middle of 2016, with the most recent CSO data (for September 2018) indicating that private motor insurance premiums have decreased by 21.5% since peaking in July 2016.
Finally, it is envisaged that the seventh quarterly update will be completed in the coming weeks. This update will provide details on the implementation of all of the recommendations from both the Motor and Employer/Public Liability Reports, with a particular focus placed upon the seven actions with Q3 2018 deadlines, including three actions from the Report on the Cost of Motor Insurance .
