Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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62. To ask the Minister for Finance his views on the Second Private Motor Insurance Report of the National Information Claims Database; the action he will take in response to its findings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39490/20]

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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On 3 November the Central Bank published the second motor insurance report of the National Claims Information Database. The report is very clear. It sets out the facts in black and white for anybody to see. In the past decade the cost of claims per policy fell by 9% while the average motor insurance premium increased by 35%. The insurance industry generated a profit of €142 million last year, an operating profit of 10%. What actions will the Minister's Department take on foot of the report's findings? Will the Minister rein in the price-gouging that goes on in the insurance industry once and for all?

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware, the National Claims Information Database was a key recommendation of the cost of insurance working group. It is intended to facilitate a more indepth analysis of annual trends in motor insurance claims. The second report, published earlier this month by the Central Bank, confirms that premiums for private motor insurance policies decreased by 9% from their recent peak in 2018 to the end of 2019. This is in line with the downward trend in the consumer price index of the Central Statistics Office, CSO, and reflects work done in recent years on insurance reform. I expect and hope that this structural trend has continued into 2020.

Regarding award levels, the report continues to highlight the fact that in the majority of personal injury claims there is not a significant difference between settlements reached using the Personal Injuries Assessment Board, PIAB, process and those pursued through litigation, with the latter subject to much higher legal costs and longer settlement times. I strongly believe the report shows that there is a clear benefit in getting more claimants to settle through the PIAB. This benefits the claimants themselves and also consumers generally, as increased costs for insurance companies are ultimately reflected in higher insurance premiums. This is an issue which the Cabinet insurance reform subgroup is prioritising. It will consider proposals on enhancing the role of the PIAB in due course.

The report also highlights the cyclical nature of the insurance market, in particular the growth in insurance premiums relative to the cost of claims and the growth in the profitability of motor insurance underwriting since 2015. This report should assist in dampening these extreme cycles of profit and loss in the motor insurance sector.

With regard to my next steps, I note that the report includes a significant amount of information and data, which my officials have worked on. This will be utilised by the Cabinet insurance reform subgroup as it carries out this work. That group is due to publish an action plan on further steps in the coming weeks.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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The Central Bank's second report has completely and utterly destroyed the spin which the industry uses to justify the high cost of insurance premiums and which is all too often peddled by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil Ministers and Deputies. For years the Government has told consumers that high premiums are solely caused by the high cost of claims, or that they are the result of some kind of delinquent compensation culture in this State.

The facts of the matter, however, show something very different. The Central Bank found that between 2009 and 2019 the cost of claims fell by 9%, the number of claims fell by 45% and, despite this, the average motor insurance premium was 35% higher in 2019 than in 2009. As I said, the industry is gouging customers and making superprofits and, mark my words, its profits will increase next year.

I want to know what concrete actions the Minister will take. Will the Government, for example, stop blocking for another year my legislation, including key sections agreed by the House? Will the Minister lift the block on that legislation and show us for once and for all that he is really serious about taking on this industry instead of being in its pocket? The latter is the only conclusion I can draw as customers are ripped off over and over again and the Minister decides personally, after having sat with the industry earlier this year, to block key sections of my legislation.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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This is typical of Sinn Féin. Its members come in here and levy accusations about me, my party and the Government being in the pocket of an industry, whereas the truth is that I am focused on trying to ensure, through policies that can make a difference and laws we can implement, that we can deliver lower premiums for businesses, families and motorists over time. The Deputy does not make any reference to the fact that the data set published by the Central Bank shows that motor premiums have fallen. Deputy Doherty knows that the insurance market in 2009 that he is using as his base had a level of competition and pricing in it that went on to have a whole other set of consequences. It is below the Deputy, and he belittles this as an issue, to come into the House and make cheap claims about me or anybody else being in the pocket of this industry. I am working on policies that have made a difference and that continue to make a difference. The action plan on the sector that the Government will publish will reflect our seriousness about making a difference, not producing, like the Deputy does, cheap claims and accusations that progress nothing but his own interests.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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This House agreed key legislation after it had been blocked by the Government for two years with a money message trick. It is on the record of the House that the Minister sat down with the industry. The industry asked him to stall key sections of the legislation. What did the Minister for Finance do? He bowed to the industry. Who pays the price for this? People who are being ripped off do. The facts are the facts. Insurance premiums have gone up by 35% in the past ten years, the cost of claims has fallen by 9%, the number of claims has fallen by 45%, and next year this industry will make bigger profits.

I will ask the Minister about another piece of legislation and a key report I gave to the Central Bank which triggered its own examination of dual pricing, a practice that is going to be banned in Britain and is banned in 20 states in America. Let us put the Minister to the test on this one. I will publish legislation in the coming weeks to ban this policy outright. Will the Minister for Finance say he supports this or does he again need to find out what the insurance industry wants on this issue?

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy is not being serious on this matter. He comes in here and roars at me on different matters. I know how important these issues are. If I do not meet the insurance sector to raise the issues of competition and of ensuring that those to whom the sector provides policies are treated fairly, he will come in and roar at me about that as well. He will condemn me for not meeting the insurance sector-----

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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For blocking legislation.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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-----and when I do meet the insurance sector, Deputy Doherty walks in here and roars again. He stands up and gives, as I have said before of him, the single transferable roar, depending on what the issue of the day is. He and other Members of the House, I remember very clearly, called on me to meet the insurance sector in order to raise the issues he and others have raised. Then, when I do so, he comes back in here and accuses me of being in the pocket of the industry.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister blocked legislation agreed by the House.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I am not interested in sound bites on this; I am interested in making progress on an issue I know is very serious. The data the Central Bank has published show the progress that has been made on motor insurance premiums.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Let the Minister correct the record-----

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Táimid ag bogadh ar aghaidh anois.