Results 5,761-5,780 of 6,295 for speaker:Michael D'Arcy

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Michael D'Arcy: No, I do not. One of the problems with insurance that I noted at an early stage was the lack of data at every level. We need to address that. With the help of Deputy Michael McGrath, the other finance spokespersons and the committee, we passed the Central Bank (National Claims Information Database) Bill 2018 very quickly at the end of last year. This allowed us to start the process of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Michael D'Arcy: I accept that. I think the Deputy and most other members know I am driving this as hard as it can be driven.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Michael D'Arcy: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Michael D'Arcy: It is not possible for me to answer that until I get the legislation through both Houses.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Michael D'Arcy: I am not reaching that conclusion. I am saying that this is the date by which I believe it should be met. If the Oireachtas can organise itself and pass the legislation quickly and efficiently, there is no reason this incredibly important work cannot be prioritised.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Michael D'Arcy: That is correct. The reason I cannot answer the question is that I cannot predict whether the legislation will be passed by the end of this session.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Michael D'Arcy: The first thing I will do after the Bill has been passed is meet the Attorney General. I will seek a meeting with the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan, the Attorney General and the Chief Justice to highlight the emergency that businesses, festivals and so forth all over the country are facing as a result of insurance costs. The Oireachtas has responded extremely well to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Michael D'Arcy: If we could also get the Deputy's Bill over the next Stage, that would be very helpful. It would also be helpful to get Deputy Doherty's Bill over the next Stage. The final pieces for both Bills would be to have Report Stage debates prior to the budget. We passed three Bills last year, namely, the Act providing for the establishment of a national claims information database, the Personal...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Michael D'Arcy: That would be an important body of work. I have met Insurance Ireland, the representative body for the companies, and I will also meet the insurance companies individually. The position I have taken with Insurance Ireland is that insurance companies must not delay addressing premiums following the enactment of the Judicial Council Bill. We are on a very clear pathway of reducing awards,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Michael D'Arcy: We are trying to get all of those data and we have some. There have been 50 cases of blatant insurance fraud reported to the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau, GNECB, since last October.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Michael D'Arcy: To put that in context, 25 of those cases involved staged accidents. They are the figures we have. I know that it has been put out that hundreds of cases have been presented, but we have the figures for the numbers of cases in the nine-month period from October and they are the actual numbers of fraud cases presented.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Michael D'Arcy: I will do that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Michael D'Arcy: One thing on which I am clear is that we are doing all of this work in order that the benefit will flow to the consumer, the person paying premiums, not the insurance company. I have made strong statements on the insurance companies. I do not hold them in high regard. They always win. They are the ones who charge premiums and are in charge of the allocation of an award, if one is made....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Michael D'Arcy: In the case of motor insurance, there has been a reduction of 25.5% from the peak of three years ago in July 2016. They are the figures. In 2016 there was a loss year on year of €75 million. In 2017 there was a profit of €59.7 million. I know that the figures quoted are correct on the basis of how they are presented, but the fact that the sector was losing €75 million...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Michael D'Arcy: That is my point.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Michael D'Arcy: I am not sure if the Deputy has heard me do so but I have made the point on numerous occasions that for every fraud case, there are hundreds of exaggerated claims, and for every exaggerated claim, there are hundreds of legitimate claims which are awarded funds on the basis of the book of quantum, in line with the award levels. Fraud, we are told, costs the sector approximately €200...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Michael D'Arcy: To respond to something the Deputy said previously, my colleagues in the Government did not let me down. I want to make that point because it has been said quite a bit. I was given full authority to deal with this by the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe. He told me to go and deal with it. I do not think anyone is questioning my commitment to dealing with the insurance difficulties we...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Michael D'Arcy: The information will be on the management expenses and other expenses, including other components, the commission written and earned, the investment income and other income including those other components. It is not just claims.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Michael D'Arcy: That will be in the NCID.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Michael D'Arcy: I am pushing for the third quarter. I cannot guarantee it but it will be before the end of the year.