Results 10,361-10,380 of 10,460 for speaker:Gerry Horkan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Sep 2016)

Gerry Horkan: I am only asking the question.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Sep 2016)

Gerry Horkan: We are all totally sympathetic to anybody dealing with a serious injury. We heard from the car rental association this morning a suggestion that people are coming from other jurisdictions and faking crashes here in rental cars. It was suggested to us this morning that it is like insurance fraud tourism. We are trying to tease out everything we are hearing from all the different sides. Mr....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Sep 2016)

Gerry Horkan: No. The witness is answering in the same way as he dealt with a question I asked a few minutes ago. Have the witnesses any idea why the average payout we have been told time and again in the past few days is what it is? There is an argument that people are looking at one book of quantum indicating €15,000 and another indicates £5,000. Is there any other reason the sums could...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Sep 2016)

Gerry Horkan: I know that. We have heard the constitutional arguments and I know the Judiciary. I am not questioning the Judiciary. I just wonder whether the witnesses have any thoughts themselves. The witnesses are far more familiar with the process as they are involved in it day in and day out. I am just trying to discover whether they have any ideas as to why we have, allegedly, much greater...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Sep 2016)

Gerry Horkan: We are teasing out quite a lot this afternoon. We have been comparing the cost of insurance in Ireland with that in Bulgaria and Poland and it is clear that if the system of payouts is totally different then it is quite likely that the system of insurance is quite different. Mr. Murphy made reference to the profits of insurance companies. We keep being told that the competition is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Sep 2016)

Gerry Horkan: The book of quantum is there to reflect prevailing claims rather than to give guidance. Is that right? It is more a statistical, historical record of what is actually happening as opposed to what should be happening. The Judiciary has to have regard to it but need not stick to it. Is that correct?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Sep 2016)

Gerry Horkan: That is fine. I just wanted to confirm it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Sep 2016)

Gerry Horkan: It is a statistical back-up as to what judges might do if they feel like it, though they do not have to.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Sep 2016)

Gerry Horkan: I accept that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Sep 2016)

Gerry Horkan: Is there any statistical information about how often awards are way out of kilter in relation to the book of quantum? Is there any statistical analysis that shows that, for example, in 95% of cases the awards were within 10% of the average?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Sep 2016)

Gerry Horkan: That is quite helpful. I thank Ms Moorhead. It was said that 70% of claims were settled. Are most of them settled before going to the Injuries Board or afterwards?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Sep 2016)

Gerry Horkan: It all goes back again to data sharing. This has been the case in every session we have had. Does Mr. Gilhooly have any idea of the proportion of legal costs as a percentage of the total cost of motor insurance claims?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Sep 2016)

Gerry Horkan: People who go to the Injuries Board incur costs with the legal profession, as do people who settle, which is presumably a part of the overall payout figure.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Sep 2016)

Gerry Horkan: It reduces their compensation.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Sep 2016)

Gerry Horkan: It is a zero sum game if the claimant only received the figure he or she would have received in any event. If he or she managed to get a better figure because he or she engaged with the legal system, that is his or her right. Nobody is saying it is not. However, if he or she is going to settle with an insurance company for €4,000 but goes off to the solicitor and is told he or she...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Sep 2016)

Gerry Horkan: I am not saying they do, I am not saying they do not. I do not know. However, there is an issue there in that it is a settlement that has not gone to court, yet it involves a potentially significant amount of legal costs and we do not have any data on that either.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Sep 2016)

Gerry Horkan: I move on to my last question, which I have asked of everybody else at this stage. Mr. Murphy might have seen me asking two previous witnesses. If the witnesses were sitting here in the committee when Insurance Ireland come before us, as I think they are to do on Thursday-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Sep 2016)

Gerry Horkan: You can sit in the Visitors Gallery but you probably cannot sit here. What questions would you like the committee to ask Insurance Ireland? We have probably covered them already.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Sep 2016)

Gerry Horkan: It could not admit that even if it was.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Sep 2016)

Gerry Horkan: Thank you. I have the same question for Mr. McGarry on behalf of the Bar Council.