John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank my colleague, Deputy Michael McGrath, for bringing forward this motion and for taking these steps to address what is a very serious issue, one that is very high in the public agenda. I wish the Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Equality, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, well and congratulate him on his appointment.

Motor insurance is not like health, travel or home insurance. It is compulsory. A person found in control of a vehicle without insurance is guilty of a criminal offence. When we hear that the cost of motor insurance has risen by 60% since 2014, with the Central Statistics Office, CSO, confirming that there has been a 34% increase in the past 12 months, it is a cause for very serious concern. We do not need the CSO to inform us, as public representatives, because we have been hearing it anecdotally from constituents.

For several years drivers benefited from competitively priced motor insurance premiums but the consequence of that was the collapse of insurance companies such as Quinn and Setanta and the consumer will be paying for this with a 2% levy on all insurance premiums for the next ten to 15 years. On top of that, today's insurance companies are in a race to return to profitability, with premium increases of up to 60% hitting already hard-pressed drivers and resulting in the negation of any well-deserved tax cuts they may have received in the recent budget. Increases are costing Dublin drivers in particular between €200 and €300 in many cases, regardless of the longevity of their accident and claim free record. While we are correct to focus on young drivers, this rightly angers and frustrates seasoned and experienced drivers who have a 25 to 30-year accident and claim free driving record. Dublin motorists have always been at a disadvantage because premiums have often been higher in the capital than in the rest of the country. In Dublin and across the country, these increases are resulting in very worrying trends where motorists are not insuring their vehicles. Unable to afford the spiralling cost of car insurance, some are taking to the roads with nothing but the sky for cover. This cannot continue. Even Insurance Ireland says high premiums are not in insurers' or drivers' interests as raising the threshold of affordability leads to more uninsured drivers. Insurance companies tell us that these increases are down to, among other things, fraudulent claims, higher rates of compensation being awarded in the courts and legal fees.

Without the establishment of the independent task force that Fianna Fáil proposes, however, none of this can be confirmed. We are setting out clear proposals to tackle motor insurance costs. This would involve the reconstitution of the Motor Insurance Advisory Board, which was successful in reducing motor insurance premiums, to examine, in particular, the profitability of the industry, the settlement of claims and the impact of fraud and exaggerated claims on premiums. We need this task force to identify, once and for all, the root cause of these dramatic and crippling price increases. It needs to have access to data such as the amount of compensation awarded in private which never makes it into the public sphere. During the previous sustained period of rising motor insurance costs in the late 1990s, prices rose by 50% in seven years. The establishment of the Motor Insurance Advisory Board helped reduce these costs by 40% in real terms between 2002 and 2013. Fianna Fáil believes there is a need to re-establish the Motor Insurance Advisory Board, which would include representatives from insurance companies, the Departments of Finance and Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, motorist representative bodies and the Road Safety Authority, to examine all the relevant issues that affect insurance premiums.

I have received a raft of calls from constituents in the past month, in particular, regarding the rise in the number of cars, especially older cars, being abandoned in residential estates in my constituency. I am sure the two issues are connected.

Given that car insurance is compulsory, the cost is a major issue for family finances. It impacts heavily on family budgets. Higher car insurance premiums mean families are doing without other essentials. Shopping around for competitive quotes is not only time consuming, but also seems completely fruitless.

My party has a proud record of having addressed and effectively dealt with this issue in the 1990s and 2000s. It is that kind of action which is demanded by the motion. Dash cam technology is an innovation and initiative worthy of consideration, as are other non-legal avenues to address the issues. I strongly commend Deputy McGrath on bringing the motion before the House, which proposes to establish a task force to address spiralling insurance costs. I am happy to support it on behalf of Dublin motorists.

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