Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I think it is best that we make this distinction now. We are beginning to drill down into the nub of this now. If the insurance I am paying for suddenly increases by 20% or 30%, I will scratch my head. Most people will accept that historically, it might have come down for a certain demographic. Where is the loading? Mr. Carty has referred to the SFCR. If I am interpreting him correctly, he hinted that the corporates are rejigging balance sheets and preparing for the Solvency II rules. It seems to me that the victims in this, if I can use that word, are the people who are driving cars in Ireland. Regardless of the age of their vehicles or their own ages, their risk profile has not increased over a short period of time. It does not matter if their cars are three months old or 30 years old. If they have passed the NCT, they are roadworthy. This is the point. It seems to me that ordinary people are becoming victims or pawns in a bigger corporate game. There is a bit of re-provisioning going on. There is pressure to adhere to the SFCR rules or the Solvency II rules. There is a bit of naked profiteering going on as well.

This is why the joint committee wants to drill down into the issue of public knowledge. The market is not perfectly competitive. If it were, anyone who wanted to enter the market tomorrow would have perfect knowledge of all elements of data. The Injuries Board is telling us one story. As it is a public body, we absolutely believe in the veracity of its figures. Not everybody is going through the Injuries Board. Why are the insurance companies settling? We know there was a constitutional case relating to the right to legal representation. I have sympathy for the IBA position in respect of transparency around the insurance system and the measures that can be taken. Everyone is saying the same thing with regard to data. We do not have perfect knowledge from the insurance industry. Maybe we have to wait for Insurance Ireland to come in later on to drill down into that element of it. Until we have that, we are really at nothing here.