Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 4 July 2019

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach

Insurance Sector: Discussion

Photo of Pearse DohertyPearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I refer to the reforms for which many of us in these Houses are arguing and which would see the issue of fraudulent claims dealt with by the Garda fraud squad or the establishment of a variation of it. When will the insurance industry give us some transparency and tell its consumers and us as politicians bringing in these types of reforms what this will mean for customers? In October 2002, we had before the committee representatives of the Irish Insurance Federation, for example, which was the predecessor of Insurance Ireland. They gave us a list of reforms which would match price reductions from the industry. They told us that the road safety strategy, for example, would result in a 10% reduction in claims costs, that a reduction in the number of uninsured drivers would result in a 5% reduction, that anti-fraud measures would result in a 1.75% reduction, and so on. The industry is completely unwilling to provide what it provided over 15 years ago. Why? If we are willing to bring in the reforms, why is the industry not willing to say, "If you do this, we will reduce premiums by X, Y and Z"? Surely insurers can calculate the risk component of all these factors. I ask Mr. McGrath that question.

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