Tom Neville (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is an anomaly straightaway. There is also the issue of ten year old cars. Given that these cars have been tested under the NCT procedure, I cannot see any reason they should not be on the road. I have been told there are data on this but I have not seen any to justify the current position. We need to have the national claims information database in place in order that all the data are available and the system is open and transparent. I ask the insurance companies and Insurance Ireland to work with us as much as possible. The Minister of State will soon publish the relevant legislation, which should be pushed through the Dáil as quickly as possible. I ask the insurance companies to work with us. I keep getting responses mentioning commercial sensitivity. I understand that but it is being used as a catch-all or a stick to beat us with when we are trying to get these data. If it does stack up, that is fine, we will have to deal with that some other way. We should at least see the data to allow us to address the matter.

We have also had problems in respect of business insurance. Businesses are being quoted higher premiums and then finding out or being told that a claim has been made. That communication process and style is a simple thing that needs to be changed. Road hauliers are another group feeling the effect. The Government backed road hauliers because exports were one of the first parts of the economy to recover. The Government realised that help with tax cuts three or four years ago, if I remember off the top of my head. They are now again feeling the effect of insurance on their business. Exports and road haulage are a big part of our economy and the issue of insurance is now having a significant impact on them.

We have to address this issue, which is coming back from the private sector. We must take a unified position and push back on the private sector in respect of what is happening here. We need to speak with one voice because if I know the private sector, it is trying to divide and conquer us anyway in what we are trying to do. There is a public relations battle going on here and I urge the House to pull together on this and try to push measures through as quickly as possible, specifically the national claims information database which will give us the information we need.

Drivers in rural areas are feeling the impact of insurance costs. People starting college and driving for the first time are able to get a car more easily than before. The price of insurance, however, is crippling them. In Limerick, for example, people from County Limerick will drive into the University of Limerick or Limerick Institute of Technology because they are not far, relatively speaking, and it makes more sense economically to drive to college than to stay in the city. They can live and perhaps work at home but the insurance price is also starting to hurt these people.

There are a number of facets to this issue. We need to maintain the momentum of the cost of insurance working group. We also need to examine and debate trying to benchmark claims in respect of the Judiciary. We must also address the fraud and claims culture, of which we have seen some examples. There are different strands to be tackled.

I hear what Opposition Deputies are saying. We all hear the same things on the ground but there is no simple solution. Different strands have to be pulled together and major bodies of work have to done. I want to see that done as quickly as possible and I want to push that as quickly as possible. I ask the Minister of State to convey to the Cabinet our desire to have the issue of insurance costs prioritised. It is a real and live issue and, for want of a better word, one of the lowest common denominators on the ground because it affects almost everybody.

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