Frank O'Rourke (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I want to use this as an opportunity to again raise the huge issue of motor insurance for individuals and companies. The difficulty is that while this is an issue that has been raised for some time and has been spoken about at length in this Chamber over the last 12 or 14 months, we are not seeing any positive impact happening on the ground. Apart from premiums being reduced, they are not even stabilising. As we speak, they are still increasing. The Minister of State is probably aware of that himself. Most Deputies see this issue at their clinic on a daily or weekly basis. I certainly see it. I see it raised by two groups of people. One group is the private individuals trying to insure their cars. The second group is the business people in the haulage or fleet businesses who are having serious ongoing problems.

As we speak, premiums are still increasing by 30% and 40%. That was never acceptable and is certainly no longer acceptable now. It has been happening since about 2014. We must reach a stage at which measures are implemented and put in place to stop this happening. Rather than going into the issues of what has caused this and why it is happening, I believe we now need to stay focused on delivering a result and a solution and ensuring that premiums no longer escalate or increase but stabilise and return to the acceptable level they should be at to allow people to operate. What is the Minister of State, his Department and the Government doing to ensure that the 33 recommendations proposed by the Oireachtas committee are being implemented in a way to bring about and deliver results? As I said, that is not happening as we speak.

We may need to look at opening up the market for other European companies to come to Ireland and quote for insurance policies to help put manners on the current insurance companies that currently operate in the market. They are all operating through a mechanism by which the difference in their quotes is no more than €20, €30 or €40. That is not acceptable. I remember being cautioned when I attended the Committee for Public Accounts and raised a concern by saying that the companies are operating in a cartel-type manner. However, people can be forgiven for thinking like that because the increases are completely unacceptable and unsustainable. People's circumstances are not changing in any way, yet they are still seeing their premiums increase by maybe €300 or €400, which equates to 30% or 40%.

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It cannot be sustained. What will happen is those people will end up not driving at all or will perhaps be forced to do something terribly wrong by driving without insurance. For elderly people it will lead to further isolation. People are already very stretched and adding this unacceptable level of premium on to their policy is completely overstretching them to the point of breaking. That is the issue that has to be addressed.

A haulage business in Kildare, which employs 29 people, contacted me yesterday because the cost of its policy has increased by 40%. The person who contacted me is considering whether he will renew it, scale down his business or close. It would have a massive negative impact on the local and national economy. We know what the issues and recommendations are. The question now is what will be done to bring reductions in motor insurance across all spectrums so people see results, which is not happening.

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. The Minister for Finance has responsibility for the development of the legal framework governing financial regulation. Neither the Minister for Finance nor the Central Bank of Ireland can interfere in the provision or pricing of insurance products as these matters are of a commercial nature and are determined by insurance companies based on an assessment of the risks they are willing to accept. This position is reinforced by the EU framework for insurance which expressly prohibits member states from adopting rules which require insurance companies to obtain prior approval of the pricing or terms and conditions of insurance products. Consequently, the Minister is not in a position to direct insurance companies on the pricing level they should apply to particular categories of individuals. However, the Government accepts it is possible for the State to play a role in helping to stabilise the market and deal with factors contributing to the cost of insurance. Consequently, the Minister established the cost of insurance working group in July 2016 and appointed me as chair.

The need for action was recognised by Government and accordingly the working group comprises representation from across Government, including the Department of Finance, the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, the Department of Justice and Equality, the Personal Injuries Assessment Board, the Central Bank and the State Claims Agency. The working group consulted widely and published its report on the cost of motor insurance in January 2017. The report targets six main objectives including that of protecting the consumer. This objective in particular relates to protecting the consumer in the insurance purchasing process. Important issues in this regard include increasing levels of transparency in respect of premiums, improving access to insurance and enhancing the quality of engagement with consumers. Across the six objectives, the report contains 33 recommendations and 71 actions which are detailed in an action plan contained in the report with agreed timelines for implementation. The Department of Finance is taking the lead in co-ordinating the overall implementation of the plan and the first quarterly update on the implementation of the recommendations was published this afternoon on the Department’s website.

I have already provided a preliminary update to the Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach. Action is happening across a number of fronts as per the report’s action plan. There is no simple or single solution to the problem of increasing insurance prices which was recognised by the committee’s report on the matter last year. It is envisaged the implementation of all the recommendations with the appropriate levels of commitment and co-operation from all relevant stakeholders should achieve the objective of delivering fairer premiums for consumers. This in turn should lead to greater stability in the pricing of motor insurance and help prevent the volatility we have seen in the market in the past. It should also better facilitate potential new entrants to the market. The latest data from the Central Statistics Office indicate there has been no month-on-month increase in the cost of motor insurance during the first three months of this year. The trend shows that since summer 2016, there has been a decrease in the consumer price index of the cost of motor insurance. If this trend continues, I am hopeful it might signal the start of a stabilisation of pricing in the market as the actions continue to be implemented over the next 18 months.

In so far as additional competition into the market is concerned, the Central Bank has announced recently that applications for new insurance entities into the Irish market have been made to the Central Bank and other applications are imminent. In so far as employer liability insurance and public liability insurance are concerned the working group is now in its second phase of work and we are looking at those issues. The working groups is engaging with industry stakeholders to see what additional measures might be introduced in addition to the measures that were announced in the action plan for motor insurance earlier this year.

Frank O'Rourke (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I took some notes while the Minister of State was speaking. One of the last things he mentioned, which is very welcome if it is the case, was that applications have been made by four other companies to operate in the insurance market in this country. If it is the case, it will hopefully help the issue we are speaking about and also help the people who need it badly. It is the responsibility of Government to put measures in place to implement the findings of the commission and the joint Oireachtas committee. That is why it was set up. Perhaps we need to have shorter review times. The review period is quarterly but if we are serious about delivering results on the ground for the people and businesses that need it perhaps we should have more frequent review periods to let everyone see we are really serious about delivering for the people where it matters. People will be thinking we are just speaking about it again, which we have been doing for the past 12 or 14 months. It is not an issue that has happened overnight; it is one that has been happening since 2014. It is worth pointing out that between 2000 and 2013, when the Motor Insurance Advisory Board was in place there was not the escalation of motor insurance premiums of the scale we have had in the past three years. Perhaps we should have a shorter term review to send a strong message that we are serious about having results on the ground and about having a stabilisation and reduction of insurance premiums. That sends out a strong message.

I do not accept what the Minister of State said about there being no increases reported for the first three months of the year. I am not sure where those figures are coming from.

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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The CSO.

Frank O'Rourke (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I can give the Minister of State the details of a plethora of individuals and businesses that have experienced increases in the region of 25% to 30% and he, the Department or the CSO office can ring them. Those increases are on individual premiums not to mention the business that, coincidentally, contacted me yesterday evening about 5 o'clock on this issue. I am not so sure how realistic the information is. On the ground the reality is that motor insurance premiums are increasing. It is putting people under serious pressure. We need to send out a strong message that it will not be tolerated and we will put measures in place to ensure it stops as soon as possible.

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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The strong message has been sent and the measures are in place and are being worked upon. Applications have been made by new entities to the Central Bank. I do not have the latest numbers but they were in the region of between three and five the last time I got the figures from the Central Bank. It is positive that new entities will be coming into the Irish market. I have to see how that plays out into the future in so far as other entities are concerned. The action plan's first quarterly report came out this afternoon. When one looks at that action plan, one will be able to see in detail what actions have happened according to the timeline envisaged for this first quarter of our report and also what progress has been made on actions that are due for completion in other quarters this year and next year. It is a very important level of transparency so that everyone here, all stakeholders, consumers and the Oireachtas, can see exactly how we are managing our targets. It shows progress. It is very important that I have already reported to the Oireachtas committee on a number of occasions and given preliminary reports ahead of that quarterly reporting. This is not a report sitting on a shelf. There are actions here with lead owners - people who are responsible for implementing these actions - and I, as chair, am responsible for reporting to make sure those actions take place. The level of transparency shows the commitment from the Government. The CSO figures show a positive trend. The CSO is responsible for calculating them. We should not causally question those figures unless we have a solid basis for doing so. On an anecdotal level, we are both aware of people who are still seeing increases in their individual premiums. The figures I gave were on motor insurance. The second phase of the working group's work is under way and is dealing with employer liability insurance and public liability insurance. We are looking at additional measures we can implement to add to the measures we already have in motor insurance. When one looks at the report, one will see the measures we are bringing in for the consumer with regard to transparency of data and things like fraud will have an impact beyond motor insurance and into other areas of insurance. There is still work to do there and it is important we get that work right. We do not want to take an action that might act as a disincentive for new entrants to come into the market. We need to see a competitive space in the insurance sector.