Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

What does scoping out an exercise mean? If Insurance Ireland provides statistics to the Central Bank then yes, there are statistics, but the issue is how they are mined for quantitative analysis of the data so that decisions can be made. Will the scoping exercise, whatever that is, result in transparency around the cost of a premium? There is no breakdown of the cost of an average motorist's premium. People accept the insurance companies must make a surplus on the premium and accept, to a certain extent, a rejigging or resetting of provisioning, but they do not accept the stark increase. The witnesses still have not explained this, not even in their opening submission. There is nothing in the opening submission, with all due respect, or in the subsequent replies which answers for the ordinary motorist the question as to why premiums have increased.

The witnesses have not spoken to us about behaviours in the insurance industry regarding the settling of claims - whether the insurance companies interrogate fully every claim that comes before them, or whether they settle them just to get them off the desk and out the door. We do not know who the members of Insurance Ireland are. The witnesses state that it is representative of 95% of the domestic market but, presumably, all of the big insurance houses are members of Insurance Ireland also. We know it is a not-for-profit organisation. We are all intelligent people here, presumably, so we know Insurance Ireland gets its riding instructions from those paying subscriptions. The question is whether Insurance Ireland is here to speak for all of its members, including the big insurance houses. We now hear there will be an investigation by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, but we none the wiser after more than half an hour into these proceedings. I am still ignorant as to why there has been such a stark increase. The witnesses state that the data is available, but clearly it is not.