Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There is no doubt but that we all agree that PIAB needs to be reformed and that its legislation needs to be updated. There are approximately 30,000 personal injury claims per annum of which only 12,000 go through PIAB. That indicates that there is huge room for improvement and to improve the throughput of work PIAB can perform. One of the underlying problems with the rising cost of insurance has been that many claims are settled outside PIAB and the courts, which has led to a lack of transparency and visibility. The costs associated with claims are borne ultimately by all of us as insurance premium payers. Costs of claims processed through PIAB are in the order of 6% whereas they can be in the order of 50% of a claim if they go through the courts.

Will the issues of unsustainable and fraudulent claims be addressed in the legislation? Will the Bill, which I am sure the Minister has had sight of, cover that area sufficiently? Can the Minister update us on the work being undertaken by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission in its investigation into the insurance sector as mentioned in the media?

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