Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The CSO carries out an examination on the basis of one premium. The insurance industry actually looks at how much it charges across every motor vehicle and gives the average price. Its statistics show that the cost of motor insurance did not decrease from 2016 to 2017 but instead increased so I ask the Minister of State to look at the data, accept the facts and stop giving out misleading information.

I have no certainty that this sector, which is completely without insurance, will have insurance based on what the Minister of State has said. There is no State intervention regarding that. I am not sure whether the Government has even discussed the withdrawal from the market of Axa XL, the underwriter that has withdrawn from this market, with that company.

We hear lots of claims. We hear claims that the cost of claims is pushing up premiums. The figures tell a different story. We know that according to published figures, the value of personal injury awards fell by 15% from 2014 to 2018. We know that in the same period, 55,000 fewer motor insurance claims were made and that during the same period, motor insurance premiums went up by 45%.

A number of things need to be done. One of them will happen this evening with my Consumer Insurance Contracts Bill. We need to establish a dedicated insurance fraud unit. This means a commitment from the Minister for Finance to An Garda Síochána that the Government will fund and resource this unit and that it will not come from existing resources. The Government needs to enact the section of the legislation that allows for the judicial council advisory committees to be set up. It could be as long as September 2021 before this work is complete. There are many other things that, unfortunately, time will not permit me to deal with at the moment.

See this speech in context