Results 1,401-1,420 of 34,585 for speaker:Seán Fleming

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

Seán Fleming: The representatives gave that assurance to this committee publicly on behalf of the insurance companies they represent. They gave it directly to the Department of Finance more recently. In my meetings with insurance industry representatives over the past two months, I referred to the action plan for insurance, with its specific deadlines. The vast majority of the actions are to be...

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

Seán Fleming: Yes.

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

Seán Fleming: There are two halves to that question. The second half concerns information on profitability and costs. The Central Bank of Ireland is the regulator and has complete access to all that information on a company-by-company basis. Part of our work will involve greater liaison with the Central Bank from a governance point of view without interfering with its independence or regulatory role....

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

Seán Fleming: I have met representatives of the Law Society of Ireland and the Bar Council of Ireland on that issue. Their view is that their members are brought in only if a client comes to them. They say their members are not out looking for business. That is a moot point but what we are doing, as part of a key element, is engaging in PIAB reform. Under the action plan, there is to be public...

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

Seán Fleming: That is fine. The first aspect concerns getting more players and competition into the market so that we will not be just relying on eight or ten insurance companies. That is exactly the reason the new office was established. It was created to promote competition and it held its first meeting yesterday. We saw that one of the key problems was exactly as the Deputy described it. The...

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

Seán Fleming: The only way of absolutely removing discretion from the Judiciary, however, is by constitutional amendment, and that is an issue. Some people might agree with doing that, but others might cite the example the Deputy gave at the beginning of a catastrophic case in which it is estimated that a person might live for 50 years when an award is being settled, but it might turn out that he or she...

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

Seán Fleming: A constitutional amendment would, however, be required to provide for a legally binding set of awards in respect of the Judiciary.

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

Seán Fleming: If there is certainty regarding the level of awards, then the insurance companies will feel they are on firmer ground going into the courts. As the Deputy said, some insurance companies are currently shy about going to court and they pay to settle cases. Representatives from Insurance Ireland told me yesterday that its members accept 90% of PIAB settlements while challenging 10%. The...

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

Seán Fleming: With regard to competition, I have already mentioned that we are paying the price for the cheap policies that were on the market for a number of years. They were so cheap as to prevent the companies issuing them from being viable. Quinn Insurance is the most recent example of a company that went under because it did not have the necessary reserves. As a result of that, we are all paying...

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

Seán Fleming: We covered that when discussing the company which was most recently found not to have adequate reserves. That company no longer exists. It has been taken over and other people are running the business. I compliment the company that took over the business. It has been the most keen on helping young drivers under 25 years of age. It concentrates on that market, which is good. I hope 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)

Seán Fleming: I take the comments on board. I have listened carefully but I do not have the answers. I refer to cases being settled by companies without the policyholder's knowledge. He or she is not told about it until he or she goes to renew the premium and finds that it has increased. On 30 September we commenced sections of the Consumer Insurance Contracts Act, as Deputy Doherty will be aware. At...

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

Seán Fleming: Does the Deputy mean currently or previously?

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

Seán Fleming: Yes.

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

Seán Fleming: I will give the Deputy a straight answer. He has asked me a question about the previous four years, which is before I came into office. I will get a detailed response for the Deputy. I am more concerned about where we are now with the action plan we have developed since the election that is based on the programme for Government rather than a look-back. The figures I have quoted came from...

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

Seán Fleming: Yes.

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

Seán Fleming: I will give the Deputy some but it is not a comprehensive list. We have established the Personal Injuries Commission and it published two reports that have fed into increasing knowledge in the area. The Central Bank has published the national claims information database, which did not exist prior to this. The cost of insurance working group in existence for a number asked for this...

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

Seán Fleming: Yes.

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

Seán Fleming: Correct.

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

Seán Fleming: Yes.

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

Seán Fleming: I have quoted figures from the data released by the Central Statistics Office. Two groups produce information. One is the Central Bank that has detailed information on the insurance industry and the other is the CSO that collects statistics on behalf of the State. They use different methodologies. The CSO tends to collect data by a sample basis whereas the Central Bank uses specific...