Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Doherty is absolutely right when he speaks of the control of data being key and data being presented in a certain way to make a certain impression. This has been part of the difficulty we have all had in trying to get to grips with what has been happening over the past number of years. Companies have used their data in their own way as part of this blame game, and that needs to end. We will need, through legislation, to very clearly define exactly what data we are looking for, how it is to be presented, what it means and how we intend to publish it. The control part is key and that is why it needs to be by an independent or a State body, and not the insurance industry. I want to let the Deputy know about an exchange I had with one of the industry companies that came in. It may have been a little bit indicative of the exchanges we have been having. I put the point across to the company that we need to know, and a person needs to know, why a premium has increased. The company is providing the service, the person is paying for it and needs to understand why there is an increase. I asked the company if it could commit to doing that and it said that it could. I asked if a person would get a detailed understanding of why a particular premium had increased. The company said it would not be the particular premium and that the reasons a premium had gone up would be in general terms. That is not helpful to anyone.