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

The reality is that it does not explain the issue about which we are talking. The industry will state it is caused essentially by the rising cost of claims, but we do not have a handle on that issue because seven out of ten claims are settled outside the Personal Injuries Assessment Board, PIAB, and a court environment. Therefore, we do not have the published records and, in the absence of that information, it is very difficult to reach any definitive conclusion as to why the cost of premiums is escalating at its current rate. The bottom line for motorists watching at home who have received their renewal notices in the post or who are expecting to receive them in the next few months is that they are looking at increases of hundreds of euro. Shopping around is not the answer. People are doing this and finding that the quotations from all other firms have gone up correspondingly and that there is no saving to be achieved. The Minister for Finance raised the issue of the insurance sector generally with the Central Bank. The then Governor, Mr. Honohan, wrote to the Minister in August, to make a series of recommendations, including the introduction of judicial guidelines for when cases get to court in order that there would a degree of consistency in the level of court awards made.

The Tánaiste would be doing consumers a service if, today in the House, she committed to re-establishing the Motor Insurance Advisory Board in order that it could sit down with all stakeholders to get a handle on the true facts and arrive at an understanding of what is driving the unsustainable level of increase in motor insurance premiums. I cannot for the life of me see why she would have a problem with this. Why would she not immediately commit to re-establishing the advisory board in order that we could identify the recommendations which woud make a real impact on the money in the pockets of consumers? The increase was 30% last year and the industry is predicting a further increase of 25% next year. This means that a bill of €400 will increase to €650 or €700, which is not sustainable. There are issues driving the increase which could be dealt with by way of legislation and other initiatives. Let us deal with it. Let us get the Motor Insurance Advisory Board back up and running in order that it could start to examine this issue quickly, not just refer it to another Dáil committee which, as the Tánaiste knows, would not have time to deal with it before the general election.

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