Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the fact we are debating this report at last. This is not an issue that has sprung up overnight. The figures over recent years show the increase in motor insurance in 2014 was 11.6%, in 2015, there was a further increase of 30.8%, and in the twelve months leading to August 2016, there was an increase of 28%. The Minister of State has quite rightly said there is no silver bullet that is going to fix this. While we welcome the report and support many of the recommendations, we have to acknowledge that for many years there was total and utter inaction on behalf of the Government of which the Minister of State was a member in bringing about solutions to the issues that are facing so many people.

If we look honestly at where this originated, it goes back to last year in 2016 when we as a party brought forward a policy of recommendations on how to tackle the exorbitant costs of insurance. Subsequent to that, we tabled a Private Members' motion that was debated, voted on and passed by this House.

It was then taken up by the Chairman of the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and the Taoiseach, who engaged extensively with many varied groupings on what needed to be done to tackle the high cost of insurance. I compliment Deputy McGuinness and his committee and the many witnesses who came before it and engaged with it to examine what could be done to address this issue.

We have been three years examining this problem but I believe those three years have been wasted. Nobody will tell the Minister of State that their insurance premium has decreased in the past three years. I am sure my constituency colleague and the Minister's party colleague brought the example I am about to give to his attention. Only this week, the owner of a small courier firm in Mullingar, in my constituency of Longford-Westmeath, who has three vans on the road went to insure another van because he was getting additional work and he intended to employ another driver, both of which were to be welcomed. The insurance company sought €4,500 to provide that cover to allow the additional van go on the road. He could not do it. He bought the van and put one of his older vans off the road. That is sitting idle in the yard. When we consider the Minister of State's recommendations in terms of Objective 1, protecting the customer, that insurers provide additional information on the breakdown of the cost to consumers, that man must wait until the end of 2018 before he will get a breakdown of how the company came up with that figure. We are already three years in and some of the objectives will not be implemented until the end of 2018. It will have taken five years to have some of the issues resolved.

There is a reference in the report to further consultation and review on review. That is a concern because we will still be waiting in a number of months or years and the people about whom the Minister of State spoke, namely, the hard pressed motorists who rely on their cars to get to work and go about their daily lives, will still be paying high insurance costs in a number of years from now.

One of the main factors in the rising cost of insurance is the issue of personal injury claims, which the insurance companies have said has led to the huge increase in insurance costs in recent years. Despite that, in reply to parliamentary questions from my colleague, Deputy Michael McGrath, there has not been a significant increase in the payout of compensation in that time. The excuse the insurance companies are giving, therefore, does not add up.

It is fair to say, however, that the payout in terms of personal injury claims in Ireland for whiplash and soft tissue injuries is much bigger here than it is in many other jurisdictions in the EU. The Minister of State's report specifically recommends the establishment of the personal injuries commission, which he stated has already been put in place. That is welcome. One of the functions of that commission is to consider the introduction of an international benchmark for personal injury awards, which would bring Ireland in line with other EU jurisdictions. That would ensure that only genuinely injured people would get a fair settlement but it will not be implemented until the end of this year, quarter 4 of 2017. Ultimately, an international benchmark should reduce the costs and frequency of personal injury claims, which would in turn help to address the rising cost of motor insurance for both personal customers and the business community. I would have thought that such international information was readily available or at least it should be.

I refer to the role the EU plays in this area and the role our insurance companies play within the EU. Insurance companies can enter the market here from outside our jurisdiction and offer premiums at a very competitive rate because they do not operate under the same terms and conditions as insurance companies registered in Ireland. We know what happens when they go bust. It is left to the Government to pick up the tab, which ultimately results in the additional cost being passed to motorists in their insurance premiums. I may have missed it but I do not see anything concrete in the report in terms of how that issue will be dealt with in the future. If a company from outside this jurisdiction is offering a service or a product here it should adhere to the same terms, conditions and regulations that apply to the Irish companies.

On the question of safety and reducing the number of casualties, fatalities and collisions on our roads, unfortunately, the past 12 months was the first time in a long number of years that we witnessed an increase in the number of fatalities and collisions on our roads. The primary reason for that is lack of enforcement. The Minister, Deputy Ross, is on a crusade to reduce the drink driving limit but he and the Government would be better placed if they ensured that there was a greater Garda presence on our roads and that the existing legislation was implemented. That would do a great deal to reduce the number of collisions and fatalities on our roads.

I welcome that the report has been launched and that the Minister of State has set targets, which must be acknowledged. However, I am concerned about the length of time needed to reach those targets, some of which extend into quarter 4 of 2018. I ask that this aspect continues to receive the priority that is warranted and that, if at all possible, the targets would be accelerated because we need to ensure that returning emigrants, younger drivers and drivers with older cars can get a reduction in their insurance premiums and that they pay a fair price to have their cars insured on the road.

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