Eamon Scanlon (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I commend my colleagues on bringing forward this important Bill to tackle the insurance fraud culture in Ireland. Insurance fraud costs us all. The Government needs to act more quickly to tackle the issue of escalating insurance costs. We are all awaiting the establishment of a dedicated Garda anti-fraud squad. Businesses throughout the country, including pubs, farms and marts, have been crippled by massive increases in insurance. We heard recently about crèches not being able to survive because of insurance costs. Unless something is done very quickly, a lot of people will lose their jobs. That is where we are heading.

In recent times, the insurance companies have been taking a more serious look at the claims being presented in courts, which is to be welcomed. In the past 12 months in particular, people have been withdrawing their claims because of the work being done by the insurance companies. However, even when a claim is withdrawn, there are a lot of costs attached to it. The insurance companies have to employ legal practitioners to determine whether a claim is justified. Many of them are not justifiable and so they are withdrawn, but at a cost to me and everybody else in this country in terms of high premiums. That is wrong.

Motor insurance was mentioned as well, particularly for young people who live in rural areas. The Minister, Deputy Flanagan, comes form a rural constituency and he knows exactly what I am talking about. There are many young people living in rural areas who, thankfully, are in a position to get employment, but as they do not have the luxury of the Luas, the DART or other public transport, they need a car to get to work. I know this is not the brief of the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, but something needs to be done for people on learner permits. They could, perhaps, be allowed to drive a car during work hours, with a curfew in place for the remainder of the day. It is a proposal worthy of serious consideration.

The Personal Injuries Assessment Board was set up a number of years ago. It worked successfully for a number of years. The number of claims dealt with through the Personal Injuries Assessment Board was as high as 70% at one stage but that number has fallen back to 32%. More work could be done to get these claims processed by the Personal Injuries Assessment Board, in respect of which costs are not high. This process allows people to present a claim and have it adjudicated on without incurring substantial legal costs. It would be an improvement.

We know that motor insurance premiums have increased considerably over recent years. Public liability insurance has gone through the roof. As I said earlier, businesses cannot afford to pay it. This is creating a lot of problems for businesses and jobs are being lost.

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