Noel Rock (Dublin North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Many contributors to this debate have outlined the scale of the problem in great detail, the most alarming feature of which is the CSO figures, which indicate a 35.5% increase has taken place over the past 12 months. This places further unsustainable pressure on people of all ages and all backgrounds, who frankly are struggling with the cost of living at present. This, allied with a 9.2% rent increase across the board, is placing great pressure on people in respect of the cost of living and must be addressed urgently. As such, I welcome this motion which is good and has good foresight. The idea of establishing a task force with a view to taking action on the causes of the problems in the insurance sector is good. I am glad to note it appears as though the motion has secured support from right around the House, which is heartening and goes to show the pursuit of new, consensus-driven politics.

When one considers the problems and how they affect individuals, I certainly can state I have been inundated by people contacting me on the costs of their own insurance. For example, a 19-year-old who had an insurance premium costing €2,000 last year has now had the cost of his premium increased to €3,200 this year, which is a stunning increase. Similarly, I refer to a 54% increase in respect of a 1-litre Micra and a 70% increase on a 1.1-litre Yaris. These are extraordinary increases being faced by people, young and old, working and unemployed, as well as students and people from all sorts of different walks of life. It is incumbent on Members to examine the reasons for this and to try to address the root causes. As such, I believe the task force is a good idea, as is strengthening the Injuries Board. I believe Deputy Fitzpatrick pointed out that legal fees are making up to 60% of many claims. This is an alarmingly high figure, but even more alarming is that eight out of every ten motor injury claims in Ireland are for whiplash.

In Ireland, the average whiplash claim is €15,000 while, as Deputy O'Dea pointed out, it is approximately one third of that in the United Kingdom. It is less in other jurisdictions.

The Fianna Fáil motion is right to point out that nothing replaces increased road traffic enforcement in terms of getting uninsured cars off the road. Such cars lead to an increase in costs for all those who work hard, play by the rules and insure their own vehicles. It is incumbent upon us to bring about more enforcement. We hope that the investment in An Garda Síochána's road traffic enforcement will go a long way towards achieving that.

In the limited time available I have spoken about the impact on individuals, as well as some of the welcome solutions that have been set out in this motion. I welcome the motion and look forward to hearing the Minister of State's thoughts on the matter.

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