Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 28 February 2019
17. Deputy Bobby Aylward asked the Minister for Finance the measures taken to meet and engage with insurance companies regarding excessive premiums being charged to consumers particularly in counties Carlow and Kilkenny; if the possibility of opening up the insurance market to new providers in order to increase competitiveness in prices charged for motor insurance has been investigated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9764/19]
Amharc ar fhreagra37. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Finance the status of measures taken to meet and engage with insurance companies here regarding excessive premiums being charged to consumers, particularly in counties Cavan and Monaghan. [9769/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 17 and 37 together.
As outlined to the Deputy in previous PQ responses (including PQs 7359/19, 48428/18 and 40780/18), stakeholder consultation formed the foundation upon which the two primary reports of the Cost of Insurance Working Group and the accompanying recommendations were developed. This consultation process involved a wide range of stakeholders representing the different voices within this sector, including representative bodies, the major individual motor insurance providers and interest groups. The impact of excessive premiums being charged to consumers from all counties across the country was a feature of this engagement process with industry.
In addition, Department officials regularly raise specific issues affecting consumers across the country during their ongoing engagement with Insurance Ireland. Furthermore, I have separately met with representatives from insurance companies and other stakeholders in relation to a number of issues and the problems resulting from high insurance premiums have been discussed during these engagements.
Quarterly progress updates on the implementation of the Report on the Cost of Motor Insurance and the Report on the Cost of Employer and Public Liability Insurance provide more detailed information on the implementation of each of the recommendations and actions. The seventh quarterly update was published in November and is available on the Department’s website the eighth quarterly report is expected to be published in the coming days.
Alongside delivering fairer premiums for consumers, a key objective of the Working Group is to create a more competitive insurance market overall in this country. I believe that the full implementation of all of the recommendations will make Ireland more attractive to new entrants, thus increasing capacity as well as competition.
Finally, it should be noted that the nature of the EU Single Market is such that insurance undertaking authorised in other member states are allowed conduct business in the Irish market on either a freedom of service basis or a freedom of establishment basis, consequently there are no restrictions preventing such companies entering this market if they wish. You should also be aware that Recommendation 5 of the Report on the Cost of Motor Insurance called for the Department to support efforts and raise awareness of the need to improve cross-border insurance at EU level. Accordingly, the Department is monitoring developments at EU level on an ongoing basis and has instructed the Permanent Representation in Brussels to hold consultations with relevant institutions on issues raised in the Working Group’s Reports.
