Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 July 2019
207. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Finance the progress of the cost of insurance working group to date; and the proposals forthcoming from the group which will have an immediate impact on the cost of motor insurance and insurance for operators in the leisure industry. [33189/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraAt the outset the Deputy should note that I am very conscious of the difficulties being faced by many operators in the leisure sector in relation to the cost and availability of insurance. I also appreciate that there is some frustration about the perceived pace of reform. However as the Deputy is aware there is unfortunately no single policy or legislative “silver bullet” to immediately stem or reverse premium price rises. This is because there are many constraints faced by the Government in trying to address this issue in particular the fact that for constitutional reasons, it cannot direct the courts as to the award levels that should be applied, and for legal reasons it cannot direct insurance companies as to the pricing level which they should apply in respect of consumers or businesses seeking insurance.
I wish to however to emphasise how important this issue is for the Government. As the Deputy is aware, the Cost of Insurance Working Group (CIWG) was established in July 2016 and undertook an examination of the factors contributing to the increasing cost of insurance in order to identify what short, medium and long-term measures could be introduced to help reduce the cost of insurance for consumers and businesses. The Deputy will recall that the CIWG has produced two reports since its inception and has been working to implement the 33 recommendations of the Cost of Motor Insurance Report published in 2017, as well as the 15 Recommendations of the Cost of Employer and Public Liability Insurance Report, published in 2018. To that end, the key achievements to date from the two reports, including the following:
- the passing of the Judicial Council Bill by the Oireachtas on 9 July in order to implement recommendation of the Personal Injuries Commission regarding award levels in this country, including a judicial recalibration of the existing Book of Quantum guidelines;
- the commencement by the Law Reform Commission (LRC) of its work to undertake a detailed analysis of the possibility of developing constitutionally sound legislation to delimit or cap the amounts of damages which a court may award in respect of some or all categories of personal injuries, as part of its Fifth Programme of Law Reform;
- the establishment of the National Claims Information Database in the Central Bank to increase transparency around the future cost of private motor insurance;
- reforms to the Personal Injuries Assessment Board through the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) Act 2019;
- commencement of the amendments to Sections 8 and 14 of the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004 to make it easier for businesses and insurers to challenge cases where fraud or exaggeration is suspected;
- the reform of the Insurance Compensation Fund to provide certainty to policyholders and insurers; and,
- various reforms of how fraud is reported to and dealt with by An Garda Síochána, including increased co-ordination with the insurance industry, as well as the recent decision by the Garda Commissioner to develop a divisional focus on insurance fraud which will be guided by the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB) which will also train Gardaí all over the country on investigating insurance fraud, and the recent success under Operation Coatee, which targets insurance-related criminality.
I believe that these reforms are having a significant impact with regard to private motor insurance (CSO figures from June 2019 show that the price of motor insurance is now 24.5% lower than the July 2016 peak). The Government is determined to continue working to ensure that these positive pricing trends can be extended to other forms of insurance, including those relevant to businesses.
Undoubtedly the single most essential challenge which must be overcome if there is to be a sustainable reduction in insurance costs particularly for small businesses is to bring the levels of personal injury damages awarded in this country more in line with those awarded in other jurisdictions. In this regard, the Personal Injuries Commission has highlighted the significant differential between award levels in Ireland and other jurisdictions, and has made a number of recommendations to address this issue, in particular the establishment of a Judicial Council to compile guidelines for appropriate general damages for various types of personal injury. Minister of State D’Arcy and I have worked closely with the Minister for Justice and Equality, Mr Charlie Flanagan TD to progress the Bill through the Houses of the Oireachtas as a matter of priority. I am therefore pleased that the Bill was passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas on 9 July, and I expect it will be signed into law by the President shortly.
Now that the Bill has been passed, it will be a matter for the Judiciary to put in place the Judicial Council and to establish the Personal Injuries Guidelines Committee. While the Government cannot interfere in their deliberations, I would hope that the Judiciary will recognise the importance of this issue and prioritise it accordingly and take account of the PIC’s benchmarking report.
Finally, I would like to assure the Deputy that the Cost of Insurance Working Group will continue to focus on implementing the remaining recommendations of the Report on the Cost of Employer and Public Liability Insurance in parallel with implementing those from the Report on the Cost of Motor Insurance and the Ninth Update Report by the Cost of Insurance Working Group was published last week. I am hopeful that the cumulative effects of the completion of the two Reports’ recommendations will include increased stability in the pricing of insurance for businesses and a more competitive insurance market.
