Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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Those watching the proceedings of the committee are looking for some comfort that the Government is intervening in a manner that will seek to reduce the cost of motor insurance premiums and other premiums as well. For the purposes of today we are talking about motor insurance premiums. I am a little bit worried by the Minister of State's response. If I interpret his intervention correctly, he is telling us that "the ability of the Government to influence insurance pricing is limited, as insurance companies are required by European law to price in accordance with risk". If a person received a letter from the insurance company saying that the premium had increased by 30% or 50% or whatever and that person been driving for quite a number of years with a clean record, he or she would be shocked at having to pay upwards of 50% of an increase in his or her insurance premium because there is not such an increased risk overnight. One has to conclude from the point of view of ordinary motorists that the provisioning arrangements by insurance companies was too low, that there is the lack of transparency and that perhaps the insurance houses, most of which are global corporates, are readjusting the price setting for the Irish market in order that they can engage in super-normal profit sharing.

What we really need to hear in this committee is whether the Government has the power to legislate effectively to compel the insurance companies to meet their obligations to ensure that people pay a fair premium for a fair risk on their driving. I am worried about the Minister of State's intervention and that the working groups are predominantly constituted by Departments of State, which is fair enough and is appropriate. There is the Department of Justice and Equality, the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, the Central Bank of Ireland and the Injuries Board.

I have not heard from the Minister of State what the level of engagement has been so far with the insurance companies based in Ireland and those underwriting that risk, be they operating in the Irish market or externally. I have a funny feeling that they are readjusting their business model to extract a lot more profit from the Irish market overnight with a short sharp shock. That is what many people are experiencing this year with the massive increases in their premiums. If the purpose of the insurance companies is, under European law, to price in accordance with risk, it has to be said, with some degree of fairness and balance, that the behaviour of most drivers has not changed and they are still driving competently, so why should they pay extra for their premiums? Can the Minister give a clear idea of whether we can legislate to change the behaviour in the insurance sector? That is a simple yes or no question. It is incumbent on us to be very clear with motorists experiencing these difficulties.

Is there a proper level of co-operation with the insurance companies, if they have been engaged in this process, and the working group? If they wanted to, they could ignore this process and continue to do whatever it is they want to do. If they do not buy into this process we could argue that we are at nothing here. There could be some legislation around what the PIAB does, or transparency in respect of settling claims. Can we legislate to ensure there is transparency around settling claims out of court, through the PIAB, and within the courts? We need much more transparency and we must be clear with motorists about whether we can legislate to reduce premiums. We also need to have some degree of compellability in respect of how the insurance industry engages with the working group and politically, to give motorists some comfort about reducing the cost of premiums.