John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. The joint committee has made 71 recommendations and it took time, deliberation and conversations with the various stakeholders to arrive at the recommendations. We believe a number of the recommendations can be dealt with immediately. For example, section 4 of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act 2003 provides for the Minister to confer additional powers on the Personal Injuries Assessment Board. It is necessary also to reform solicitor's fees. Could the Injuries Board be reformed so that it takes a greater role in settlement?

More cases might be settled at that level rather than being pursued through the courts with the greater degree of costs and so on. There is also the other legislation, namely, the Civil Liabilities and Courts Act 2004 and the Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act 2003. These are steps that can be taken alongside the work of the Minister of State's working group. This committee wants to work closely with the Minister of State and that group to achieve the implementation of the wide-ranging recommendations we have made. One of the issues that arose today, and from our recommendations, was to do with the Irish Road Haulage Association and a submission made by its president, Verona Murphy, which indicated that hauliers are obtaining insurance elsewhere in the market in the European Union. It is a point that we did not develop fully in the context of our recommendations. We expressed an interest in the area and support the case being made but there is a need for the Minister of State's group to look at this in more detail. This might be something that he may comment on and maybe resolutions to address the issue could be brought about pretty quickly. I would like to see that happen.

Recommendation 59 in our report into the rising costs of motor insurance recommends that Government examines the reasons Irish businesses, in particular the transport sector, are procuring motor insurance abroad with a view to reversing this trend. The committee also recommends that government engage directly with businesses in this regard. I know the Minister of State has done that and maybe he has not examined all these recommendations in detail but I would like his opinion on the possibility of implementing some of those recommendations in the short term or having the legislation examined in the short term to see what parts of the legislation were not enacted, what could be enacted, what would impact on the premiums immediately and so on. I would like to hear the Minister of State's comments on that and I will leave it with him. He also mentioned who we might recommend and there are people in the Gallery who might-----