Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his question and good wishes. I look forward to working with him. He raises an important point in which every Deputy has an interest.

Government recognises the concerns felt by individuals, businesses and community groups regarding the cost and availability of insurance, and as such, has prioritised the delivery of targeted, multifaceted reform to this key sector. The Government has consistently emphasised its clear expectation that insurers should pass on any savings arising from those reforms through reduced premiums but also - this is important - increase their risk appetite to provide cover to lesser-served, pinch-point sectors. Domestic policy action has been clearly targeted at delivering real and sustainable change benefiting policyholders, but the Deputy is aware that the impacts of the ongoing reform programme will take time to transmit to price levels for a variety of reasons. Those can variously include uncertainty arising from ongoing legal challenges, the inherent complexity of the insurance sector’s operating environment, or even dynamic external developments, which can determine price or supply in a small market such as Ireland.

The insurance industry's response to the Government’s reform agenda continues to be monitored closely. As Minister of State with responsibility for insurance, I will be meeting with the CEOs of the main insurers in the Irish market next month in order to further assess their response to the action plan reforms and to stress the importance of reflecting lower claims through reduced premiums.

There are some positive developments. Central Statistics Office, CSO, consumer price data show that motor insurance prices have fallen by 16.1% since the introduction of the personal injury guidelines in April 2021. This benefits an estimated 2.2 million policyholders and is a notable outcome in the current inflationary environment, with motor insurance being a compulsory requirement and, as such, having been cited as a price barometer by all sides in this House.

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