Ms Verona Murphy:

I wish to respond to what the Senator said about the Judiciary. Five of the ten appeals that have been put before the new appeals court to date have been halved on appeal. If insurance companies are doing what they say they are doing, they must now be taking cognisance of the fact that awards are being halved on appeal. Therefore, they should be basing their awards on half of what they thought they were paying out. That is not happening. Rather than recognising that appeals are being halved, they keep speaking about exorbitant claims. It is incumbent on Insurance Ireland to collate data in the interests of transparency regarding how brokerages are paid by insurers and consumers. I have no idea how much commission my broker receives from the insurance company by way of commission. I know that when my motor insurance needed to be renewed this year, RSA quoted a price of €12,900 to me. When I went to the market, a quote of €7,900 came back from a different company. My initial broker told me that he would match it and he would not place it with RSA. When I agreed to this and signed my insurance policy, my premium was placed with RSA. This is about transparency and competition, of which there is none. There is just nothing there.

I am not sure that Insurance Ireland can deal with any of this. I refer to the manner in which brokers and underwriters are operating. Insurance Ireland deals predominantly with regulation. It is like obtaining a haulage licence. If one wishes to obtain a haulage licence, one deals with the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and the Road Safety Authority. If one fits the criteria, one's licence will not come up for renewal for five years. I am sure Insurance Ireland fulfils a similar function. It does not do anything in between. It does not seem to reprimand anybody. I return to the fundamental fact that companies that are supposed to be competitors are acting in an anti-competitive fashion. How are they being allowed to do so? How are they back in a market that they say they did not charge enough for? Once they sustain that, they can charge what they like.