Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

For somebody receiving a motor insurance renewal premium notice today showing an increase of €150 or €200, burying this issue in a Dáil committee is not a satisfactory answer. The truth of the matter is that we have been here before. The establishment of the Motor Insurance Advisory Board which examined independently the reasons premiums were rising so significantly in the late 1990s and early 2000s led to a series of recommendations which, when implemented, directly resulted in insurance premiums falling. The Tánaiste has raised a number of issues that essentially are irrelevant to this debate, including falling fuel prices. It is of little consolation to somebody who receives his or her motor insurance renewal notice in the post to see that the price of diesel on nearest forecourt is down by a few cent. That is not the issue. Similarly, the changes introduced at EU level are not the reason insurance premiums have gone through the roof.

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