Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to get the opportunity to talk about this very important matter. We all welcome anything that would help to reduce the cost of insurance and regulate the amount of claims and awards that are made. Some sizeable amounts have been given to people who were blackguarding the system, taking advantage and making false claims because we all know it has been increasing the cost of insurance. We all accept that insurance is there for a purpose. If someone has had a genuine accident - whether it is on the road, in the workplace or wherever, it is there to ensure that they are properly compensated and remunerated to the level they are entitled to.

We do not want to deny anyone the right to claim for what they are entitled to, but sadly we have seen cases of whiplash claims going back over the years and the savage awards that were given by judges to these people. We have even seen claims for whiplash with €77,000 being awarded here in this country and for the same type of claim £7,000 is awarded over in the UK. As I have said here previously, do those people here in Ireland have a brass neck or was it a gold neck they had to get such a sizeable amount? That was very unfair and was militating against the people who I feel are being discriminated against even today in attaining insurance at a reasonable cost.

The one group of people that have continually been vilified and have to pay more are the young fellows starting out on the road, being asked to pay anything from €2,000 to €4,000 when they are starting out on a learner permit with an accompanying driver. That is a savage sum. It is way more than some of them earn in a summer while they are home from college or whatever and trying to work and acquire a full licence to get on the road properly. They are being vilified before they do any harm at all. I believe that every young fellow, boy or girl, should get a chance to get reasonably priced insurance for a start. If they do harm, do wrong or whatever, they should be charged what has to be charged of them then.

We have many instances where people may have claimed for flood damage and they cannot get insurance for their homes anymore. We have had such cases in Glenflesk because some entity decided that there could be a once-in-100-years flood that could affect their homes and those people are being denied insurance for their homes. Many parishes, villages and communities try to run annual carnivals and festivals to retain their identity. Sadly, some of them failed to take place this year because they could not get insurance or the insurance premium being asked of them was too much. Even hunting clubs have serious problems in getting any insurance following some claim back a few years ago because there is not enough competition in the market and insurance companies can decide not to cater for that at all. I honestly think that since Quinn left the market there has been a huge void. There has been no real competition and it has been a long time since we heard the kind of competition that he was giving. Sadly, the ordinary punter is suffering.

PIAB is changing name and it will now be called the personal injuries resolution board, PIRB. The process may be broadly summarised as follows. The claimant applies to PIAB for compensation. PIAB then informs the respondent giving them 90 days to agree to the PIAB assessment. If the respondent agrees, they must pay a fee otherwise PIAB will authorise the claimant to pursue the claim through the courts. Where PIAB makes an assessment, the claimant has 28 days to decide whether to accept the award. The respondent has 21 days to decide whether to accept the assessment. If the claimant or respondent rejects the assessment, PIAB issues an authorisation for the claimant to pursue the matter through the courts.

It would be much better for everyone. Not everyone can agree to PIAB's assessment and unfortunately they will have to pursue the legal option. It is only right that option remains for them. We all wish and hope they would go through the PIRB option now and give it a chance. If they do not accept it, at least they are after trying. It excludes legal costs, the savage legal costs that mount up. We see that in large claims the legal costs nearly equal what the claimant gets. It is an important and valuable option for people who have a claim to go through this system, which is less expensive and will be less expensive for insurance premiums going forward, especially for youngsters who are trying to get insurance.

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