Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy is probably aware, earlier this week I, the Taoiseach and other Ministers, including my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Kevin Humphreys, met representatives of the insurance industry in Ireland to discuss insurance for those who have been unfortunate enough to have been affected by the recent flooding. As part of the discussion, the insurance industry set out its financial issues as it sees them. There were some short contributions on the cost of other insurance in Ireland.

In a previous discussion on this matter, I expressed my concern about the fact that people are being threatened with significant increases in insurance costs. The insurance industry discussed the significant cost of claims in Ireland. Reference was made to something people will know from the media, namely, the very high level of whiplash type claims. I understand they are a factor in the financial issues faced by the sector. Barely a week goes by without there being extensive reports on such cases throughout the country. That was a problem that affected Ireland in a particular way more than a decade ago. It seemed to have trailed off, but according to those who attended the meeting to which I referred, it is now a very significant problem for the industry.

The Deputy's main point concerned the better regulation of insurance in Ireland. As I said to him during a previous discussion, it is something on which I have an open mind. In the case of flooding, the discussions dealt with the fact the industry must address situations where significant State funding has been provided for the newer type of demountable flooding defences. However, this does not count for policyholders who seek reinsurance.

As I said to the Deputy during the previous debate, I have an open mind in respect of this. He is correct in saying that the Central Bank is now the overall regulator of the insurance industry, in particular from a financial point of view. That is necessary. I remind the House of an insurance company that was based in Malta. It offered extraordinarily cheap premia, in particular in Ireland. It then fell into financial difficulties and the motorists who had been insured with it, many of whom, the Deputy will recall, were young, had to seek other cover in an emergency. It is an issue to which we will have to return with the insurance industry.

We have established the dialogue of last Monday, during which the industry raised its problems with additional claims. One person said there is almost a cottage industry in whiplash claims in Ireland at the moment. As a society, we had dealt with that problem a decade ago, but it has come back to some extent. I anticipate that we will meet the insurance industry again within the next week. I will take up at that meeting some of the issues the Deputy has raised.

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