Ollie Crowe (Fianna Fail)
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Ms Murdock argued that the passing of the proposed Bill will benefit Irish businesses. I hope that is true because, as we heard from Ms Sheridan and other business owners across the country, insurance costs are a major challenge. Having said that, the insurance industry also said that businesses would benefit from the introduction of personal injury guidelines. At a meeting of the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach, the then CEO of Zurich stated that the cost of public liability insurance would fall by 20% if the guidelines were put in place. He also said that if the cost did not fall, serious questions would need to be asked. As Ms Murdock is aware, it is now one year since the guidelines were introduced. The number of public liability claims has fallen by more 20% in recent years according to the PIAB. The awards being made have fallen by more than 40% since the introduction of the guidelines a year ago. I accept, as has been alluded to, that there are court challenges to the guidelines that have yet to be decided. There has been a considerable reduction in the number of claimants accepting PIAB assessments. This represents considerable progress on the situation from a number of years ago. However, businesses have not seen any benefit from the progress at all in terms of their costs for public liability insurance. In Ms Murdock's opinion, why is that the case and does she expect to see the cost of public liability insurance for businesses decreasing in the coming months?