Results 5,821-5,840 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: Not for personal injuries.

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: There are a range of opinions. The Senator has made his statement and that is his opinion. I have pursued the constitutionality of the Oireachtas being allowed to cap awards. The Law Reform Commission, LRC, will come back to us. I am obliged to take the opinion of the Attorney General, and all those other opinions, the Senator's included, are opinions. The only one I am legally obliged...

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 not be looking at it.

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 should be at the end of the day.

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: Insurance is a small corner of the Judicial Council Bill. It is a pretty radical reformation of the way the Judiciary operates. Part of that will be a question of how to upskill members of the Judiciary and how to question a member of the Judiciary who steps outside the guidelines. There will be peer review of sentencing. That is a matter for the Judiciary to resolve.

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 a matter for the Minister for Justice and Equality, not for me.

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 would hope and anticipate that it will not be required and that the guidelines will be in line with the PIC report. If they are in line with the PIC report, there should not be a requirement for a cap on the awards. If, however, the LRC reports to us that we can, then it is a matter for the Attorney General to determine whether we are authorised to do so. The LRC report will be a guide....

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 the only opinion that matters.

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: Part of the problem has been not having information. We do not have the exact figures, and until we get the data and the analysis of how much is spent on the legal process, we cannot move. I have a note to the effect that the Department of Justice and Equality was unable to source a reliable information stream with regard to legal costs. We do not know the figures. The implementation 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: That is in line with the time that we said it would take.

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 a matter for the Department of Justice and Equality. This is similar to the question concerning the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport.

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 national claims information database will provide a lot of data as well. That will be available before the end of this year.

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 read the note for the Senator. The Courts Service has indicated to the Department of Justice and Equality that it will publish a more detailed breakdown of awards in injury cases in its 2018 annual report. The details of awards on medical negligence will be published separately. We have stripped those out to try to provide a better insight into personal injuries awards. The...

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 LRC has stated that it will be publishing a consultation paper before the end of this year. There will then be an opportunity for civic bodies, groups and organisations to feed into that consultation. It will publish the findings at some point in 2020.

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 LRC reports that Deputy Pearse Doherty has provided a Bill, the Consumer Insurance Contracts Bill 2017. This Bill will be on Committee Stage before the end of this term. We are attaching this measure to that Bill.

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 do not have the answer to that. I will revert to the Deputy.

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 thank the Senator. The Government is absolutely not dragging its heels on this. The PIC report was published last September. We anticipated that this would be done by the end of 2018. That did not happen. Deputy Pearse Doherty highlighted the filibuster that has taken place. The Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017 was originally ahead of the Judicial Council Bill 2017. It was...

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: Is the Chair referring to motor insurance?

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: Chairman, I have to be-----

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 Chairman correctly notes that the individual who is in charge of a business is not interested in the pathway but I have to be. I am talking about the pathway to how we get the reform done. I am obliged to be interested. I am obliged to adhere to the principle of separation of powers. I am obliged to highlight that the State does not have any role in the pricing of insurance products....