John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his reply. I welcome the report which is very similar to the Fianna Fáil policy document that was published last summer and the report from the Finance Committee published in November. My concern is with the urgency of its implementation. I am not going to go through all of the actions contained in the report but will highlight one or two. The very first recommendation is that insurers should set out reasons for large increases in premiums to provide transparency to consumers. However, the action point associated with that recommendation, to develop legislation to underpin the protocol, is only going to happen in quarter four of 2017. It is that type of delay in the Government's response that concerns me. The implementation will not bring about a reduction in premiums quickly enough.

I would like to see four of five of the key actions being identified and fast tracked. Not all actions will have an equal impact in terms of reducing motor insurance premiums. The Minister mentioned, for example, the issue of uninsured drivers, which is one of the key issues likely to affect premiums to the greatest extent. If such issues could be fast tracked, that would be a welcome move. The report contains 33 recommendations and more than 70 actions but some of them will be delivered too slowly. If the Department picks the first half dozen that could have the greatest impact, we could do better in terms of reducing premiums.

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