Michael D'Arcy (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the committee for its invitation to discuss issues in the insurance sector. As members will be aware, this week the 7th quarterly report on progress on the cost of motor insurance, and the cost of employer and public liability insurance, was published. It shows that, of the 78 separate applicable deadlines within the action plans of the two reports at the end of quarter 3 2018, 62 relate to actions that have now been completed. This report outlines the significant work being done to address the cost of insurance. In this regard, there has been significant progress on a number of legislative fronts as well as the publication of the second Personal Injuries Commission, PIC, report on the benchmarking of awards. While some deadlines have yet to be met, the general direction of travel is positive and this is reflected in the most recent CSO figures for October 2018, which indicates that private motor insurance premia have decreased by 22.9% since peaking in July 2016.

I will now highlight a number of the key developments that have taken place in the past number of months The committee will be aware that the Insurance (Amendment) Act 2018 was signed into law last July. This important legislation was necessary to address the Setanta legacy. The Act provides for the payment of 100% of the compensation due to Setanta third party personal injury motor insurance claimants, including the additional 35% to those who have settled their claims and received compensation of 65% of their claim. The State Claims Agency will apply to the High Court on 19 November to obtain approval for payments from the Insurance Compensation Fund in respect of the fourth tranche of payments to the Setanta claimants. I am hopeful that this tranche of payments will be made to claimants in late November or early December this year. It involves in the region of 1,500 separate payments, with a value of approximately €21 million.

Another important step forward is in the work the Cost of Insurance Working Group has been doing with the publication, and completion of Second Stage, of the Central Bank (National Claims Information Database) Bill 2018. Committee Stage will be held on 29 November and I am hopeful that with the assistance of all parties in the House, it can be enacted by the end of the year to allow the database to become operational from early 2019. Members should be aware that I intend to propose two amendments to the Bill to amend sections 8 and 14 of the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004, in order to implement recommendations of the employer and public liability report. These measures are important for stakeholders as, when implemented, they should make it easier for businesses and insurers to challenge cases where fraud or exaggeration is suspected.

The Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2018 has been published by my colleague the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Heather Humphreys, and completed Second Stage on 8 November.

Given the importance of this Bill, as part of the overall reform agenda related to the personal injuries framework, it is important to facilitate its swift passage. In many ways the most significant development over the last number of months has been the publication of the second and final report of the Personal Injuries Commission, PIC. This was a key recommendation of the Working Group on the Cost of Motor Insurance report and I grateful to the Chair, Mr. Justice Nicholas Kearns., former President of the High Court and members of the Personal Injuries Commission for their careful consideration of the personal injuries framework. In view of the findings of the benchmarking exercise, which indicated that compensation payments for soft tissue injuries claims in Ireland are typically 4.4 times that of the UK for similar claims, I would like to note in particular my view that it will be important that progress is made on the development of judicial guidelines for injuries rewards. If implemented in the spirit intended, this will be a unique opportunity for Irish society to consider an appropriate rebalancing and recalibration of Irish awards both in the context of their relative values to each other, and comparatively, to other jurisdictions. A significant knock-on effect from such an exercise will be lower premium levels, thus improving the situation for consumers, business owners, and society without disproportionately restricting access to appropriate compensation for genuine and seriously injured claimants.

Consequently, as the Bill providing for the establishment of the judicial council is a legislative priority for the Government, I hope that significant progress can be made towards its enactment by the end of this year. In summary, the implementation of the personal injuries commission, PIC, report is key to fundamentally addressing many of people's concerns about the personal injuries compensation framework in this country.

Since we started our work in 2016, there is a much greater appreciation of the nature and extent of the underlying problems. In particular, publications such as the PIC report continue to influence the public perception of this issue and provide the necessary momentum to continue with this very important project.

In addition, the robust approach being adopted by some insurers to challenging questionable claims is proving successful in tackling fraud, as can be seen in recent media reports detailing personal injuries cases which have been dismissed by the courts after extensive investigations surrounding the circumstances of the claim. This trend is encouraging in tackling the problem of dubious or exaggerated claims from the personal injuries litigation system. These facts, on top of the most recent CSO figures showing an almost 23% decrease since peak levels in July 2016 show that the work of the Working Group on the Cost of Motor Insurance is making a difference. We cannot become complacent on this agenda, however, and can therefore rest assured that i will work closely with my Government colleagues and the other relevant agencies to ensure that everything necessary is done to achieve this objective as quickly as possible.

Before I finish, Chairman, it is clear that there are a number of pieces of significant legislation at different stages in the Oireachtas. I want to ask members of the committee and their colleagues to help in the aim of ensuring that the maximum amount of floor time in both Houses be made available for these pieces of legislation. To put it quite bluntly, without getting the legislation through both Houses now as quickly as possible, progress will be slower than we would like. If anyone has spare time or if they want to get the best use of their time, my Department is ready, willing and able to deal with these as quickly as possible.