Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 95 and 164 together. The action plan for insurance reform contains 66 cross-departmental actions that aim to improve the cost and availability of insurance. This reform agenda is progressing well. The first implementation report published by the Tánaiste’s Department last July showed that 34 of the 66 actions had been completed.

Key reforms include the establishment of the insurance fraud co-ordination office within An Garda Síochána in September and the publication of the final report of the Central Bank’s review of differential pricing in the motor and home insurance markets. I will shortly go before the Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach to deal with pre-legislative scrutiny of the elimination of loyalty penalties in the course of 2022. I appeal for everybody on that committee to complete pre-legislative scrutiny today so that we can move onto the legislation as quickly as possible and pass a Bill in the Dáil and Seanad early in the new year.

Other reforms include the expansion of the national claims information database to gather data on public liability and the publication of the first report on this subject. We now have information we never had before, which is helpful. The Central Bank’s third report on the claims information database on private insurance has been published in recent weeks. We also have the Criminal Justice (Perjury and Related Offences) Act 2021, and perjury is now a criminal offence. Personal injuries guidelines were completed at the end of April and have been implemented. We will produce a review early in the new year on how they are progressing in practice. We said we would do that after a six-month period and work is commencing on that. We will publish an interim report on that within a short period, which will be available in the new year. We established an office to promote competition in the insurance market, which is essential because of the small size of the Irish economy and the impact of Brexit which affects competition. We are introducing new regulations on solicitors' advertising.

All in all, quite a lot has happened. Motor insurance premiums decreased by 8% last year and 7% so far this year, based on the most recent figures from the CSO.

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