Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 29 May 2018

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

Update on Insurance Matters and Implementation of the Report on the Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion

4:00 pm

Photo of Michael D'ArcyMichael D'Arcy (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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I have spoken to the Minister for Justice and Equality about this. It is really a matter for An Garda Síochána. Do we want to take resources away from the job gardaí do, namely, fighting crime and being out on the beat, so that the can be specifically involved in insurance fraud? It is a recommendation within the reports. Neither the Minister for Justice and Equality nor I have the authority to instruct the Garda Commissioner to do that. It is not in place as of yet but the Minister for Justice and Equality and I will speak to the new Garda Commissioner when he or she is in place. We will see how that plays. As I said, we do not have the authority to instruct the Garda Commissioner to implement that. As the Senator will see with so many of the recommendations, they are not within the Department of Finance but they are the responsibility of the Department of Justice and Equality, the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, the Central Bank, An Garda Síochána, and other agencies. We must pull all those threads together. We are pretty much on target but we are into the heavy lifting relating to legislative movement. With the co-operation of all parties and the committees, the sooner we can get these pieces of legislation concluded, the better.