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

I welcome the opportunity to speak about this issue and acknowledge the good work done on it by my colleague, Deputy Michael McGrath, consistently in the past few years. I raised it with the Minister of State as a Topical Issue a couple of weeks ago. Despite the CSO figures at the time, the Minister of State told me that the trend was that insurance premiums were becoming static, which was to be welcomed. While I provided examples, the Minister of State said they were anecdotal, but that is not completely true. Notwithstanding what the CSO figures indicated, it is not what we are all experiencing day in and day out. With only limited time available to me, I cannot go into all of the examples. However, the reality is that an acceleration of implementation of the recommendations made in the report is needed. Despite what the CSO stated and what the Minister of State said here, it is not reflecting positively for consumers, whether private individuals or businesses, particularly in the haulage sector.

This is a real problem which is causing many to drive without insurance or, in some cases, go out of business. That is unacceptable. There are inconsistencies such as incidents where insurance companies are not quoting for cars with valid NCT certificates. There is a massive problem and, despite what has been said, insurance premiums are increasing by more than 30%. A lady contacted my office on Monday having received a quote for renewal of €850. Owing to personal circumstances, she did not get to renew it until three days after the renewal date, at which point the same company stated it was a new insurance policy which would cost €3,000. That is absolutely crazy. While I accept that the Minister of State is acting in good faith when he tells us things are starting to improve, the fact is that they are not. All Deputies could bring forward multiple examples, not from the last three months but from the past few days and weeks which demonstrate that things are not improving.

Implementation of the report must be accelerated to help private individuals and businesses as a matter of urgency in order that they can continue to exist. The people concerned are already stretched and this is a step too far, as I told the Minister of State a few weeks ago in the Chamber. It is time for action. Inaction is not good enough and has significant consequences.

See this speech in context