Results 20,041-20,060 of 36,355 for speaker:Pearse Doherty

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Report on Cost of Motor Insurance: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Feb 2017)

Pearse Doherty: If this report had been implemented three years ago what, in the Minister of State's view, would have been achieved? Would it, in his view, have limited the massive increases in premiums over the past three years? If the Minister of State believes it would have done so then perhaps he would explain the particular recommendations he believes would have led to that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Report on Cost of Motor Insurance: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Feb 2017)

Pearse Doherty: The Minister of State mentioned a number of uncertainties but some of them have not taken effect. For example, payments have not changed and, as stated in the report, the legal cost has not been a major factor. Fraud only gets a footnote in the report which would suggest that fraud is not an issue. As mentioned by the Minister of State, the real change is that previously there was a race...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Report on Cost of Motor Insurance: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Feb 2017)

Pearse Doherty: Is the Minister of State saying that legal claims are causing the cost of claims to increase?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Report on Cost of Motor Insurance: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Feb 2017)

Pearse Doherty: I mentioned earlier that while I welcome some of the work that is being done many of the issues are being long-fingered. This work has been ongoing by the Department for a while now. Most of the recommendations are to either commence consultation or a review process. People were hoping for a bit of action. Recommendation No. 2 relates to the provision of additional information on the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Report on Cost of Motor Insurance: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Feb 2017)

Pearse Doherty: When then is the deadline not quarter 1 or quarter 2?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Report on Cost of Motor Insurance: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Feb 2017)

Pearse Doherty: Yes, but the quarter 4 deadline has been chosen. The deadline in respect of recommendation 1, which is to work with Insurance Ireland to develop a protocol for the reasons of large increases in premiums, is quarter 2. Both of those are very important issues, which I stressed when the motion was debated in the Dáil. I have also raised it with the Minister of State at committee. There...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Report on Cost of Motor Insurance: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Feb 2017)

Pearse Doherty: I am quite taken aback by the 20% figure. An increase of a fifth per year would be far beyond what is reasonable with reference to the consumer price index. Insurance for a 21 year old now is €3,000. There could be a €600 increase here without the insurance company having to justify it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Report on Cost of Motor Insurance: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Feb 2017)

Pearse Doherty: The deadline the Minister of State has set for recommendation No. 2 is that the consultation will begin, at the latest, by New Year's Eve, with legislation coming in, if required, up to six months later. The working group recommends in the report that insurers be required to break down the premium cost to set out the cost of mandatory motor insurance, that is, third party, in addition to the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Report on Cost of Motor Insurance: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Feb 2017)

Pearse Doherty: I understand a lot of things are happening at once. The Minister of State has made recommendation No. 2 It is black and white. All he is asking is for the insurance companies to set out the mandatory third party costs and the non-mandatory costs.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Report on Cost of Motor Insurance: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Feb 2017)

Pearse Doherty: It is page 69. It goes on to say that it is noted by the working group that any changes to non-life insurance regulations would be subject to the Central Bank of Ireland's usual consultation process, which is the process followed when enhancements to the regulatory framework are being proposed. This consultation process would need to engage with consumer stakeholders and with insurers to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Report on Cost of Motor Insurance: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Feb 2017)

Pearse Doherty: However, people will refer back to what is in the recommendations. That section is not in the spirit of what the Minister of State put before the committee.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Report on Cost of Motor Insurance: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Feb 2017)

Pearse Doherty: I am only on point 2.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Report on Cost of Motor Insurance: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Feb 2017)

Pearse Doherty: We can only hold the Minister of State to account by what he has published and what the Cabinet has signed off on, not what his thought process is, or that of the working group.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Report on Cost of Motor Insurance: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Feb 2017)

Pearse Doherty: The consultation is on the implementation of the timeline. There has to be consultation. The Minister of State has no power to require the insurance industry to take steps. There is an obligation on the Central Bank to carry out that consultation.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Report on Cost of Motor Insurance: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Feb 2017)

Pearse Doherty: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Report on Cost of Motor Insurance: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Feb 2017)

Pearse Doherty: That takes me to recommendation No. 3. The Central Bank is to amend legislation for the minor issue of changing the notification for renewal from 15 working days to 20 days. This is to make it easier for motorists to compare pricing when purchasing insurance. We may see that in 15 months. There are very clear commitments on issues that potentially affect consumer rights. Why does it take...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Report on Cost of Motor Insurance: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Feb 2017)

Pearse Doherty: Objective number 13 of the action plan is the long-term claim-by-claim register. Why have we not settled on a claim-by-claim register?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Report on Cost of Motor Insurance: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Feb 2017)

Pearse Doherty: So this time next year we are going to establish a sub-group to look at that issue.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Report on Cost of Motor Insurance: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Feb 2017)

Pearse Doherty: Will the database, which the Minister of State hopes to have established in approximately 15 months, be available to the public?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Report on Cost of Motor Insurance: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Feb 2017)

Pearse Doherty: What does the Minister of State mean?