Mr. Conor Faughnan:

This is not our data, but data which has been published by the Central Bank of Ireland. I completely agree with Deputy O'Rourke that the insurance industry collectively is pointing to many things which are true but not new. It is true that an Irish whiplash case tends to result in a more generous settlement than is the case in the UK. In Ireland, it is approximately €15,000 and in the UK, it is approximately €5,000. In continental Europe, it is much less again. Unsurprisingly, this means Irish people claim more often for whiplash than they do in other jurisdictions. There is the old joke that we appear to have very weak necks in Ireland. All of these issues have been around for a long time. They go some way towards explaining why insurance is expensive but they do not do anything to explain why it has got so much worse in the past two years and this is a very strong point make.

With regard to the notion of being able to shop round and whether there is a cartel, people are aware this is a criminal allegation and I have no evidence of any type to support it. I do not believe it is true. It is a funny old industry in a way. One sells a product today and one will find out over the next seven years what it cost to manufacture the product and whether it was done profitably or not. It can be slightly false to look at one trading year and state it was a good year and the insurance guys are laughing, because the next year could see claims mature and what was thought to be profit two years ago ceases to be when claims work their way through the pipeline. In 2014, several factors combined to worsen the scenario for insurance companies. We have mentioned Setanta and there was also an increase in the amount of compensation that can be paid by the courts at various levels. This made a significant difference because it increased court awards. When this happened, it made people more likely to go to court. This is slightly cynical, but there was an increase in the number of minor injuries reported. This is not a huge surprise; the courts pay out more for minor injuries and, bizarrely, this seems to lead to more minor injuries happening. These factors occurred in combination. Deputy O'Rourke is definitely right to take a jaundiced view of the industry pointing to factors that are as old as the hills and stating they are what led to an increase in the past two years, because there is clearly a disconnect there.