Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 6 December 2018
92. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Finance the action that has been taken to date in respect of each of the recommendations made by the cost of insurance working group's report on the cost of motor insurance. [51488/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy is aware, the Cost of Insurance Working Group is in the process of implementing both its Report on the Cost of Motor Insurance and its Report on the Cost of Employer Liability and Public Liability Insurance.
The Report on the Cost of Motor Insurance was published in January 2017, containing 33 recommendations with 71 associated actions. While the Report on the Cost of Employer liability and Public liability Insurance was published in January 2018, containing 15 recommendations with 29 associated actions. Both reports contain Action Plans which set out agreed timelines for implementation as well as a commitment that the Working Group will prepare quarterly updates on its progress.
The seventh such update was published earlier this month and can be accessed on the Department of Finance’s website under the ‘Cost of Insurance Working Group’ section. The Deputy may wish to note that this provides an update on the implementation of each recommendation as well as a traffic light indicator on the status of each individual action point, including those with deadlines into the future (19 relating to the Motor Report and 11 relating to the EL/PL Report). The Update shows that of the 78 separate applicable deadlines within the Action Plans of the two Reports to the end of Q3 2018, 62 relate to actions which have now been completed, while substantial work has also been undertaken in respect of the nine action points categorised as “ongoing”. I believe this quarterly report outlines the significant amount of work being done to address the cost of insurance problem. In this regard, there has been significant progress on a number of legislative fronts as well as the publication of the second Personal Injury Commission report on benchmarking of awards.
While I acknowledge that some deadlines have yet to be met, the general direction of travel is positive and this is reflected in the most recent CSO figures (for October 2018) which indicates that private motor insurance premiums have decreased by 22.9% since peaking in July 2016. In this regard, I can assure the Deputy that the implementation of the recommendations remains a priority for the Government and I remain confident that the continued implementation of them cumulatively, with the appropriate levels of commitment and cooperation from all relevant stakeholders, should achieve the objectives of delivering fairer premiums for consumers and a more stable and competitive insurance market.
