Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an rún seo. Is maith an rud é go bhfuilimid ag labhairt ar chúrsaí árachais arís. Is ábhar tábhachtach, conspóideach agus achrannach é le tamall anuas. I welcome Deputy Michael McGrath's motion. I also acknowledge the thousands of people, former customers and claimants, who have been left high and dry and in legal limbo following the collapse of Setanta. They have been shafted, have unjustifiably lost money and found themselves in positions of extreme hardship, with 1,600 open claims unsettled at an estimated cost of €95.2 million. They need this issue to be resolved. The poor handling of this issue has further complicated and aggravated the situation as well as their frustration and the Government is partially to blame. As stated by Deputy Pearse Doherty, the MIBI has appealed twice, having initially accepted it was liable before reversing its decision. It is difficult to understand why the Government did not challenge this. The MIBI could have paid out without prejudice and it is likely that it is liable, pending the Supreme Court action.

I support the motion to provide the necessary resources from the insurance compensation fund to ensure the liquidator can pay out all outstanding claims and I hope this expedites the payment as required. I support the call for there to be no cap, because some people have sustained grievous injuries and are in a position of extreme hardship whose full costs need to be met.

The issue of who underwrites insurance and in which country a company is regulated is important. International companies coming from states with poorer regulatory frameworks than Ireland to provide insurance by passporting it into Ireland is problematic. We have had enough difficulties with locally-based companies and do not want the added problem of people coming from countries with even weaker regulatory frameworks. We do not accept the idea that the Setanta problem was solely the fault of weak foreign regulation - Malta in this case. Setanta was an Irish company with Irish directors who must take responsibility for what happened to that company and for its recklessness, for which consumers have been left to pay. We do not accept that this is the reason for the enormous and outrageous increases in motor insurance in recent years, with drivers seeing average increases of 60% in the cost of premiums since late 2013. There are examples of increases of 200% and 300% and cases such as Setanta cannot be considered as solely responsible for the outrageous increases in insurance premiums. The market is being distorted by the greedy behaviour of insurance companies.

The Minister needs to recognise the driving records of returning emigrants. If we are happy enough to allow companies from states with very weak regulatory frameworks to provide insurance to Irish companies, why are we not willing to allow Irish motorists to have their driving records recognised when they return from abroad? I have come across cases of people being quoted between €4,500 and €6,000 when they come home, having spent a number of years abroad, to set up businesses here and restart their lives in Ireland. One man told me he was practically ready to get back on the flight to Australia after a quote such as this. In a response to a parliamentary question, the Minister said actions were being taken to establish a protocol but that will not be until the end of 2017, effectively the start of next year. These people have already waited far too long for this issue to be dealt with and many more returning emigrants will be faced with outrageous premiums. I ask the Government to ensure the protocol is brought forward as a matter of urgency.

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