Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the Deputies who spoke in tonight's debate on this legislation and all those who had kind words for myself and my party's campaign on insurance costs. There was reference earlier to the Government trying to steal my homework. I do not give a damn which Minister takes any of the work that I have done and runs with it. They can have it all, they can have this Bill, the dual pricing legislation - they should go and do it, run with it, but do not delay it. I was taken aback by the contribution by the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth. It was mind-blowing because it was basically saying "You're not as great as you think you are". I do not care. I have only one agenda, and that is to drive down insurance costs. That is all this is about. He said that this legislation will do nothing. He says after tonight's debate he still does not understand what is required. Let me spell it out to him, after his very embarrassing contribution to the House. This legislation is based on what the existing companies in Ireland, AXA, AIG, Aviva, Alliance, Zurich and RSA, have to do in the North and in Britain. In Britain they gave a commitment that if awards were reduced, they would pass on the savings pound for pound to the customers. In this State, they gave the finance committee the same assurances in 2019. There is absolutely no way that we can ever know if that commitment is being delivered on. Why? It is because although the national claims information database collects a great deal of information from insurance companies, there is a crucial piece of information that it does not have the power to collect, namely: what would the premiums be if these new guidelines did not come into effect; and what level of awards would be paid out by the insurance industry if these new guidelines did not come into effect. That is what these insurance companies have to do, audited by an independent auditor and provided to the central bank, the Bank of England. That is what this legislation demands of them to do. That means the Government holds them to account.

We can find out whether they are delivering on their promise. We may see some companies reduce premiums by 8% or maybe 12% or 14% but nobody in this House will ever have an idea whether that was actually passing on the full amount of the reduction in awards that was enabled through the passing of the Judicial Council Act. If the Minister of State did not understand it, perhaps he understands it now. This is a serious piece of legislation, which, thankfully, the Alliance for Insurance Reform is backing. I welcome the work it has done with all parties across this House on reforming the insurance industry and driving down the cost of insurance. This is not a gimmick. This is about making sure that prices that should have been reduced for every single motorist who did not have a claim or who did not change their policy. They should have seen a reduction after the implementation of these guidelines on 24 April. The Minister of State said that the survey we conducted was out of kilter. I was talking to a Deputy earlier who said it was a pity he had not had speaking time because he had just got his insurance renewal and the price had increased by €100. This is what is happening in the real world and we are letting the industry off the hook.

Earlier, the Minister of State from Fianna Fáil said that this is one element and it would be naive to think it was a magic bullet which was going to fix everything. I never said that. He went on to list reports, and say that we had to wait for reports. One report was on dual pricing. It was the result of a super-claim that I made in 2019 to the Central Bank that actually instigated that report. Two reports we already got, the final one in July. Then he talked about the coming into effect of the Consumer Insurance Contracts Act 2019, whereby people will be able to see their claims and premiums over the last five years. Again, that is legislation I drafted, specifically that section, and brought into effect in 2019 but the two Ministers of State here have been delaying its implementation in the interim. It will not come into force until September. The Minister of State, Deputy Fleming, went on to state that the national claims information database will have public liability information. That is hugely welcome, and I argued for in 2019 when the legislation was being passed, and should not be delayed. Then he said we would have crucial information when more information relating to motor insurance is published by the national claims information database. That will not actually not take into account the timelines here.

As I said, I do not care whose name is on the legislation. What I do care about is that insurance companies are held to account. It was an embarrassing contribution given by both Ministers of State this evening that could have been written by any one of the big giants of the insurance industry, giants which only last week rejected the findings of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to the effect that they are operating a cartel.

The negative point is that the Government has been delaying matters for nine months. The positive one is this legislation will pass Second Stage. This will send out a signal to the industry that it has nowhere to hide. I noted the comment by the Minister of State, Deputy Fleming, to the effect he is considering his own legislation and he may take the spirit of this legislation on board. I implore him to address this. I do not care whose name is on the legislation. Let us do this. Let us hold the industry to account and make sure it passes on, euro for euro, the premium reduction it promised two years ago.

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