Mr. Peter Boland:

We support the broad thrust of the legislation. We would like there to be a sanction for not suppling a personal public service, PPS, number. The role of mediation should be broadened through the process, not just looking for agreement on mediation at the start of the process. Section 50, which delays the pursuit of litigation for six months after a PIAB assessment, should be dropped from the legislation. InsuranceLink should be moved under the control of PIAB. These are elements that are not in the current draft legislation. If a claim goes from PIAB to litigation and is materially different when it gets to court, it should be sent back to PIAB for reassessment. A periodic review clause should be built into the legislation using the same model as the Legal Services Regulatory Authority. Ultimately, it would be a lost opportunity if PIAB does not evolve into a quasi-judicial body that is able to adjudicate on cases. That is it in a nutshell from our perspective.

On the Deputy's other question, I will obviously defend our figures because they are quite comprehensive. We had over 900 respondents in the past two months in that survey so we are very confident of them. The difference may be in the different sectors. In the Central Bank's national claims information database, NCID, which provides very comprehensive data on liability and motor, the issue when it comes to liability is a sectoral issue. In the only liability report that has been published by the NCID so far there is a major contrast in terms of the changes between 2009 and 2019, which is the period looked at in the first report. For example, in that 11-year period, the premium for manufacturing increased by 61%; arts, entertainment and recreation increased by 105%; wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motor cycles increased by 21%. The big reduction, somewhat ironically, was in financial and insurance activities, which saw their average insurance premium drop by 69%.

Essentially, what seems to be happening is that if you are based in an office and are static, you will have seen your liability premium drop quite dramatically over a ten-year period, a five-year period, and the past three years. If you are in what is regarded as a risky sector, whether that is hospitality and tourism, leisure, manufacturing or the vast majority of voluntary, community or sporting sectors, you are looking at increases.