Results 10,641-10,660 of 36,188 for speaker:Pearse Doherty

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Pearse Doherty: The claim is contained on page 4 of the report and there is a picture of the Minister of State above it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Pearse Doherty: There has been no reform in the past four years to drive down insurance prices. I am interested to hear the Minister of State point to any one.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Pearse Doherty: Some of that concerns reports and transparency.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Pearse Doherty: Some of that work still has not-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Pearse Doherty: -----reported in terms of claim costs. The Minister of State claimed that one of the big reforms has been the national claims information database.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Pearse Doherty: The Minister of State repeated his claim that insurance costs have reduced by one third since 2016. Is that what the national claims information database found when it examined more than 2 million policies across 96% of all policies written in the State in 2019? Is he disputing the figures produced by the national claims information database?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Pearse Doherty: I am well aware-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Pearse Doherty: Has the Minister of State relied on the CSO figures? I have addressed the following matter on numerous occasions. The CSO emails a sample to insurance companies and asks for a premium for a product. It is only a very small sample.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Pearse Doherty: The sample taken by the national claims information database consists of 2,048,683 policies.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Pearse Doherty: The national claims information database contradicts the claim made by the Minister of State that insurance premiums have reduced by one third since 2016. They have increased by 13%. Is the Minister of State going to undermine the work of the national claims information database by relying on the CSO figures? The CSO figures are now completely irrelevant now that we have a massive amount...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Pearse Doherty: I appreciate that. We will get to the issue of dual pricing and I welcome the Minister of State's statement that he will rely on the national claims information database. It stated in its report that insurance premiums have increased by 13% since 2016. This undermines what the Minister of State told the committee half an hour ago that insurance premiums during the same period were reduced...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Pearse Doherty: Was it under the Minister of State's remit?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Pearse Doherty: It stated that recommendation No. 1 is complete. Is the Minister of State satisfied insurers did set out the reasons for large increases in premiums to consumers?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Pearse Doherty: This one is not in it because the Minister of State signed off stating it was complete.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Pearse Doherty: I have been challenging this issue for well over a year. Insurers have not been acting honestly, professionally or with integrity. The Government has been hoodwinked by the industry. The Government has stated the recommendation is complete and insurance companies will publish the reasons premiums would increase at renewal. On Aviva's website, for example, how many times does the Minister...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Pearse Doherty: It does not mention dual pricing.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Pearse Doherty: It has issued its second report which stated that the reason prices are going up at renewal is because of dual pricing. It has stated that home insurance will go up by 35% and motor insurance by 25%. These companies, which have a legal responsibility under the consumer protection code to act fairly, honestly and with integrity with their consumers, have basically lied to the Government and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Pearse Doherty: I will talk about dual pricing in a minute. That is not the issue, however. I congratulate the Minister of State on his appointment and I am sure he wants to tackle this issue. However, he signed off on a report in October stating that this action was satisfactorily completed and that insurance companies were telling their customers why premiums were increased. It is odd if the Minister...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Pearse Doherty: Does the Minister of State believe insurance companies have acted honestly, fairly and professionally, and in the best interests of their consumers, when they published information like this which did not acknowledge the fact they were involved in dual pricing?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Pearse Doherty: Dual pricing has been written about by the likes of Charlie Weston for many years. I have a had a serious number of engagements with the Central Bank in the past year in written correspondence, a private meeting with the Governor and a submission of the major report. The two key findings in that report were that dual pricing was widespread and that the tables show the longer a customer is...