Frank O'Rourke (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I took some notes while the Minister of State was speaking. One of the last things he mentioned, which is very welcome if it is the case, was that applications have been made by four other companies to operate in the insurance market in this country. If it is the case, it will hopefully help the issue we are speaking about and also help the people who need it badly. It is the responsibility of Government to put measures in place to implement the findings of the commission and the joint Oireachtas committee. That is why it was set up. Perhaps we need to have shorter review times. The review period is quarterly but if we are serious about delivering results on the ground for the people and businesses that need it perhaps we should have more frequent review periods to let everyone see we are really serious about delivering for the people where it matters. People will be thinking we are just speaking about it again, which we have been doing for the past 12 or 14 months. It is not an issue that has happened overnight; it is one that has been happening since 2014. It is worth pointing out that between 2000 and 2013, when the Motor Insurance Advisory Board was in place there was not the escalation of motor insurance premiums of the scale we have had in the past three years. Perhaps we should have a shorter term review to send a strong message that we are serious about having results on the ground and about having a stabilisation and reduction of insurance premiums. That sends out a strong message.

I do not accept what the Minister of State said about there being no increases reported for the first three months of the year. I am not sure where those figures are coming from.

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