Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I agree, and I will work with the Minister of State on other legislation, particularly on the duty of care and some other needed reforms. However, we passed legislation. I supported that legislation but not to deepen the pockets of the insurance industry. Awards have been slashed and the numbers going through the courts have dropped dramatically. The profits of the industry have increased. We need to take out the big stick and say the industry has not passed it on. Indeed, businesses are likely to have seen increased costs.

I will take issue with another point. The Minister of State referenced the CSO but that is not a credible source. That is not to cast any aspersion on the CSO but data is available to us on the price of motor insurance. The CSO will show motor insurance decreased by 21% in 2021. That is a basket survey that is done. The national claims information database contains every motor insurance policy issued in the country in that year and shows that it only dropped by 2%. The industry would like to use CSO data but the accurate figure from every policy shows it has only dropped 2%.

There is legislation before the Dáil. I would like to sit down and work with the Department on it.

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