Declan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the two reports and compliment all involved. The major focus is on the cost of motor insurance but I wish to comment on the issue of public liability also.

The key issue is implementation of the recommendations and for people outside and in the House to achieve reduced motor insurance premiums. I have no doubt this is the intention of the Minister of State and the intention of the House. I would like to see more mention of proactive monitoring of the targets and finding solutions for many of the issues raised today.

Year on year we have seen massive increases in premiums. Deputy Troy referred to the figures and I will not go back over them.

7 o’clock

The problem is that there is no competition in the marketplace. It is appalling that it took until January 2017 for the Government to respond to this crisis, despite the fact that in every constituency office across the country the young, the middle aged, the old and the returning diaspora were complaining that motor insurance costs were spiralling out of reach. We need urgent action and do not want to see this report gathering dust. The key recommendations outline what Fianna Fáil proposed in its policy previously. They need to be acted on. It is not acceptable that legal claim costs are the reason premiums are increasing. Over 70% of personal injury claims are settled out of court and we need more transparency on them. We urgently need to establish benchmarks for claims, some of which are far too high. We need to introduce an insurance fraud database.

The market is out of reach for most young drivers. How can they establish themselves as drivers and work up a no claims bonus when they cannot afford the cost of insurance at all? The cost for young drivers driving on a parent or guardian's policy has also gone out of reach. I welcome the working group's recommendations, particularly at the transparency end, to sort out any closed shop mentality prevailing among existing insurers. I will not go over Fianna Fáil's recommendations as they are on record. A lot of insurance policies for young drivers include the installation of telematic devices to track speed and driver ability. They should be compulsory for all young drivers. They would promote better driving and, more importantly, insurance companies could then be compelled to reward young drivers who used this system by greatly reducing renewal premiums if they abided by the telematics which transmitted information, both to the driver and the companies. These tracking devices should be available to young drivers, the elderly and returning emigrants who wish to prove their driving ability and avail of reductions in their premiums in the shortest possible period.

The Minister is not a member of either committee, but can he comment on whether his Department looked at different models of insurance such as a floor insurance, coupled with a Revenue tax on fuel which would ensure one would pay for the distances driven and lighten the undue burden on elderly drivers who are isolated and only use a vehicle for short periods?

I agree with Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett on the difficulty of public liability insurance. Unless somebody gets to grips with various organisations such as Tidy Towns and other community groups which do the work of the State in health services and other areas and ensures they can get insurance cover from IPB and others, voluntarism will go out of the window within ten years. Voluntary organisations cannot pay premiums and are struggling with spuriously lodged claims. Work signed off on by local authorities such as CE schemes should be covered and stood over by the local authorities and the State agencies the work of which they are doing.

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