Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter and, as he may know, I am head of the ministerial committee on insurance that is trying to deal with some of these issues. The report from the Central Bank that came out this week is very welcome and is helping to give us more transparency about the pricing of insurance. It is a matter of concern that the cost of claims has not gone up as much as premiums. Claims have gone up but premiums have gone up by more.

There is also the issue that the Deputy has identified where more and more people are not settling at the PIAB but are going to court, which is resulting in higher legal costs but not higher awards. The Minister of State, Deputy Troy, who is in my Department, has responsibility for the PIAB, and as part of our reform programme, we are considering mechanisms to strengthen the PIAB and make it the place where more people settle their claims.

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