James Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the representatives of both groups and thank them for their presentations. We have seen recurring themes in our discussions on the cost of doing business. As the Chairman said, the cost of insurance is a major issue. Rates and the cost of finance are others. Therefore, I am very interested in what Mr. Maye said about pumping up the balance sheets of the pillar banks. We are very interested in community banking. We have had representatives of the bank Sparkasse before the committee and are very interested in pursuing the introduction of that model of bank in Ireland in order to create real competition. It is based on community, interaction with the client, knowing what a client's business is and understanding its needs and the risks involved. To emphasise Mr. Maye's point, I was only just talking to someone who had been comparing notes at a social event in France. While she pays 3.3% interest on her mortgage, her cousin is paying 1.1% in France. We are supposed to be in the European Union and fail to see why there should be such a disparity. By the way, the cousin's mortgage is over 20 years, while the mortgage of the Irish person mentioned is over 30 years. That is an issue with which we have to deal and which we are going to pursue, but on the cost of doing business and insurance, in particular, we heard an excellent presentation by the Alliance for Insurance Reform. Not alone did it highlight the problems the delegates and the insurance industry have highlighted, it also came up with specific proposals which certainly received a lot of support here. One of its suggestions was the creation of a Garda fraud unit specifically to tackle insurance fraud. I would like to know the views of both parties on that suggestion. Would they support it?

The allliance also raised concerns about the dual responsibilities of the Central Bank in prudential supervision and consumer protection in the industry. It was of the view that there was a conflict in that regard. I would like to hear views of the delegates on the appropriateness of the Central Bank doing both jobs.

The alliance expressed concerns about the liability insurance market, 90% of which is controlled by eight underwriters. Some 90% of the insurance industry is controlled by just six underwriters. In some instances, when people look for insurance, there are really only two.

To come back to the issue of a Garda fraud unit, one of the other things that interested me was the suggestion there be an automatic referral to An Garda Síochána if a claim failed in court and was found to be vexatious. Such claims fall to be dealt with under sections 25 and 26 of the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004. It was suggested there be a relationship between the two and that such claims be automatically referred to An Garda Síochána for further evaluation because there needed to be consequences for those who engaged in insurance fraud. I would like to hear the views of the delegates on that suggestion.

There was one other issue. In his report Mr. Thompson mentioned that the number of claims was increasing. There were many good statistics included in the report. One of the things his organisation would like to see is legislation being brought forward to demand that a judge explain why he or she was not adhering to the book of quantum. Nobody wants to interfere with the independence of Judiciary, but if an award is made in excess of the guidelines in the book of quantum, judges should be under an obligation to explain why.