Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 March 2019
133. Deputy Eamon Scanlon asked the Minister for Finance if the recommendations of the cost of insurance working group will be implemented as a priority; if a national claims information database and anti-fraud unit will be established within An Garda Síochána; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10362/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy is aware, the Cost of Insurance Working Group (CIWG) is chaired by the Minister of State for Financial Services and Insurance, Mr. Michael D’Arcy T.D., and has produced two primary reports, the 2017 Report on the Cost of Motor Insurance (“Motor Report”) and the 2018 Report on the Cost of Employer and Public Liability Insurance (“EL/PL Report”). Work has been ongoing on the implementation of the recommendations from these two Reports by the relevant Government Departments and Agencies and there is a commitment that the Working Group will prepare regular updates on its progress.
The eighth such Progress Update has just been published and concentrated in particular on outlining the definitive position in relation to all of the 33 recommendations from the Motor Report, as the last of the deadlines within its Action Plan passed at the end of 2018. 29 of these recommendations have either been completed, are categorised as “ongoing” and in respect of which work is continuing, or have been concluded in so far as the direct involvement of the CIWG is concerned.
In respect of the EL/PL Report, 24 out of the total of 26 action points which were due for completion during 2018 overall have been accomplished.
Taking the two specific issues highlighted by the Deputy in turn, I can confirm that the Central Bank (National Claims Information Database) Bill 2018 completed all stages in the Oireachtas on 20 December 2018 and the Act was commenced on 28 January 2019. The Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) is now making appropriate regulations in respect of this database, as provided for in the Act. The CBI will collaborate with insurance undertakings to ensure efficient data collection, and expects to publish its first report in respect of the National Claims Information Database during the second half of 2019. Once fully operational, the database will enable the CBI to publish a range of claims-related information on an annual basis to increase transparency.
Regarding the other matter raised by the Deputy, the latest Progress Update confirms that the Garda Commissioner has undertaken to further consider the establishment of an insurance fraud investigation unit within the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB). In response to the original proposal to explore the possibility that a specific unit be set up within An Garda Síochána using funding from the insurance industry, the Commissioner indicated his preference that, in principle, An Garda Síochána should not be funded by any source other than the exchequer for the purposes of tackling insurance fraud. The Deputy will, of course, appreciate that it is the Garda Commissioner who is responsible for the allocation of resources within An Garda Síochána and neither I nor the Minister for Justice and Equality has a role in such operational matters.
It should be reiterated that an industry-funded Garda unit was a single mechanism proposed as a potential means by which to implement the intent behind the relevant recommendation, the wording of which calls for An Garda Síochána to explore the potential for further cooperation between it and the insurance sector in relation to insurance fraud investigation. In this regard, much constructive engagement has taken place through the Fraud Roundtable, which was formed by the CIWG primarily to implement Recommendation 13 of the EL/PL Report, work which culminated in the publication by An Garda Síochána of the Guidelines for the Reporting of Suspected Fraudulent Insurance Claims by Insurance Entities to An Garda Síochána in October 2018. A particularly positive ‘spin-off’ development from the Roundtable has been that the GNECB and Insurance Ireland’s Anti-Fraud Forum – which is drawn from the fraud sections of the major individual insurers – have committed to meet on a regular basis in order to discuss and act upon current and ongoing general issues which arise in the area of insurance fraud.
Finally, the Deputy should be assured that Minister of State D’Arcy and the Working Group will continue to push for the completion of all outstanding recommendations and action points, as well as seeking to put into place the relevant measures proposed by the Personal Injuries Commission.
