Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 15 December 2021
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach
Insurance Issues: Engagement with Insurance Companies
Mr. Aidan Connaughton:
We would certainly support anything that will result in improving the behaviour of drivers on the road, including speed limits. As the Deputy may be aware, we have a telematics product currently in place providing coverage and driving behaviour statistics to us in regard to young drivers in particular, and we entered the young driver market with that technology. The sole aim of that technology is to give us additional protections. Therefore, we do have a product, we have shared that product with the Road Safety Authority and we believe that product provides very significant benefits to young drivers in terms of improving their driving behaviour. Overall, I would tend to agree with the Deputy that speed is a very significant factor on Irish roads, as is mobile phone use and a number of other things which, anecdotally, we would say are a concern, although it may be a bit more difficult to prove that on the ground.