Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I must now deal with a postponed division relating to amendment No. 3 to the motion regarding Motor Insurance. On Tuesday, 27 February 2018, on the question that the amendment to the motion be agreed to, a division was claimed, and in accordance with Standing Order 70(2), that division must be taken now.

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I move amendment No. 2:

To delete all words after “Dáil Éireann” and substitute the following:

“recognises that: — it has been 19 months since the Government first established the cost of insurance working group, CIWG, and 13 months since the publication of its Report on the Cost of Motor Insurance;

— according to the fourth progress update published by CIWG for quarter 4 of 2017, two action points were completed after their original deadline had passed, and 15 action points have been delayed or at risk of being delayed;

— those either delayed or at risk of being delayed include legislation to underpin the protocol with Insurance Ireland on the communication of large increases in premiums, legislation for a claims information database and the establishment of that database and the establishment of a reliable dataset to examine the impact of legal and other fees on personal injury awards;

— there are several barriers to obtaining motor insurance in Ireland;

— ten year old vehicles with a valid national car test, NCT, certificate, are being deemed uninsurable;

— returning emigrants have difficulty obtaining insurance as driving experience from foreign countries is ignored;

— insurance fraud is one of the many reasons why insurance premiums are high, and this costs the industry over €200 million every year;

— since Insurance Confidential was established in 2003 by Insurance Ireland, over 9,000 new cases of suspected fraud have been received and investigated to date;

— approximately 70% of motor insurance claims are settled outside of the courts and outside of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board, PIAB, with no current transparency on those claims; and

— the investigation into alleged anti-competitive conduct in Ireland’s motor insurance industry is ongoing by the European Commission and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission; and calls on the Government to: — urgently tackle the 15 action points in the Report on the Cost of Motor Insurance that have been delayed or are at risk of being delayed;

— bring forward legislation and require insurers to provide a breakdown of the premium cost to the customer and also provide more information to the customer on how premiums are calculated;

— bring forward legislation and establish a national claims information database, before the current deadline of the end of June 2018;

— ensure that the motor insurance sector does not discriminate against individuals with older vehicles that hold a valid NCT, by providing reasonable quotations;

— ensure that the motor insurance sector does not discriminate against returning emigrants by taking into account foreign driving experience;

— facilitate and work towards more competition by helping to create a single European Union, EU, market for motor and other insurance to enable customers to look in other European countries for insurance and to ensure customers are offered consistent and adequate consumer and regulatory protection in each EU jurisdiction;

— work towards eradicating the culture of insurance fraud in Ireland, by introducing stricter penalties for those found to be pursuing fraudulent insurance claims;

— ensure that when assessing claims-awards, reference is made to best international practice guidelines;

— deliver real transparency on how premiums are calculated and why quotes are refused, with access to a robust independent insurance appeals process;

— bring forward legislation that would provide for the liquidation of any insurance company regulated in another country as in the Setanta Insurance and Enterprise Insurance cases;

— develop a general protocol that requires insurance companies to notify policyholders of claims made against them before settlement;

— ensure that the Personal Injuries Commission report on benchmark comparisons with other countries with regards to personal injury claims and compensation and report on alternative compensation and resolution models; and

— establish a fully functioning database to identify uninsured drivers compelling insurance companies to provide the driver license number before the current deadline of the end of December 2018.”