Results 441-460 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: I will highlight my understanding of the schedule, which is not within my control or the control of the Oireachtas. As I said, we expect Report Stage of the Bill will be taken in the Seanad next Thursday. I hope it will conclude the same day. It will subsequently be moved to the Dáil as quickly as possible. I apologise for repeating myself but it was understood that the Judicial...

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 like to see the work done and the committee's consideration of the figures concluded so that the figures can become the new guidelines 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: In the event of a no-deal Brexit on 31 October, people whose vehicles are properly insured in Ireland will be obliged to carry the green card in Northern Ireland. I am of the view that the insurance companies should automatically send out a green card for every car insured here. It is then a matter for individuals travelling to Northern Ireland or the UK to take that card with them. 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: I intend to meet the insurance companies directly. It is something I have done on one occasion before. I will ask all of the insurance companies to come in to discuss a number of issues, of which this will be one.

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 Vice Chairman for trying to protect me. The issue the Deputy raises does not fall within the scope of my side of the Department but I will raise it with the Minister.

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 cannot accept figures that are presented to me when I know nothing of how they have been compiled. I accept that 500 people have responded and that the analysis is based on those responses. However, I do not know if it is a representative sample or if-----

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...