Results 141-160 of 831 for garda speaker:Pearse Doherty

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Fraud: Discussion (9 Jul 2019)

Pearse Doherty: If they are challenging them because they think they are fraudulent, they have a responsibility, regardless of their challenge, to report that to the Garda under section 19 of the Criminal Justice Act. What about the cases we hear of where someone is in court, he or she has been involved in an accident - or may not have been involved where it may have been staged or whatever or he or she has...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Fraud: Discussion (9 Jul 2019)

Pearse Doherty: The Garda may be getting some of them but the point is that where what happens in such cases is not reported, those involved are getting away with committing crimes. I take the point that the Garda does not supervise the courts and so on. The Houses of the Oireachtas place the onus on the insurance industry and the companies involved to pass the relevant information to the Garda. In cases...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Fraud: Discussion (9 Jul 2019)

Pearse Doherty: ...am talking about the individual who tried to scam, who has walked out of the courthouse after losing the case but has not really lost anything and the insurance company has not reported that to the Garda. That is a criminal offence.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Fraud: Discussion (9 Jul 2019)

Pearse Doherty: ...of an individual. We need to be careful here because they are crimes, obviously. However, this needs to stop. We cannot have this revolving door system. There is also a responsibility on the Garda to impress on the insurance industry that it has a responsibility and that if it is not reporting those cases, it is committing an offence. The Garda needs to be willing to step up and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Fraud: Discussion (9 Jul 2019)

Pearse Doherty: We had a suggestion in the cost of insurance working group that private industry would fund a section of the Garda. I immediately objected to it. Regardless of who is paying, private money and the Garda should not mix because of the independence of the Garda and everything that goes with it. I am glad that is off the table. We wasted a lot of time in respect of it. However, I am very...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Fraud: Discussion (9 Jul 2019)

Pearse Doherty: I know the Garda is not in favour of a privately funded unit but-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Fraud: Discussion (9 Jul 2019)

Pearse Doherty: The insurance companies will do it at their end. It is not a case that they will gift the Garda IT systems or software.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Fraud: Discussion (9 Jul 2019)

Pearse Doherty: I am a strong advocate of an insurance fraud squad as a separate unit. The unit we are talking about, the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau, GNECB, has a number of subdivisions. I believe there are six in total. Which one does fraud fall under?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Fraud: Discussion (9 Jul 2019)

Pearse Doherty: I am hard on the insurance industry, but it tells us there is no point in reporting fraud to the Garda because it does not have the resources to deal with it. We hear this from other actors as well. We are told that unless the report concerns something major and organised, like the cases Mr. Lordan refers to involving multiple claims and fake identities, it will not be investigated...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Sector: Discussion (4 Jul 2019)

Pearse Doherty: Is it the case that a level of proof is not required by the insurance companies as it is up to the Garda to investigate suspected fraudulent claims?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Sector: Discussion (4 Jul 2019)

Pearse Doherty: How many fraudulent claims has FBD reported to the Garda? It is definitely not 10,000, 15,000 or the 20% figure to which reference was made. I want to get to facts instead of spin from the industry. It does not add up. These questions will be asked of representatives of all insurance companies which are making these accusations. Some 19 cases were reported to the Garda by the industry...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Sector: Discussion (4 Jul 2019)

Pearse Doherty: ...ones. Fraudulent claims are a separate issue. It is a nice headline from the industry. Do the representatives believe that the insurance industry only reporting 19 fraudulent claims to the Garda in a period of six months is an accurate reflection of the level of suspected fraudulent claims within the industry? Are such claims not being reported? What is happening in that regard? The...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Sector: Discussion (4 Jul 2019)

Pearse Doherty: Why are those cases not reported to the Garda if they potentially involve fraud?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Sector: Discussion (4 Jul 2019)

Pearse Doherty: Allianz is not required to prove that there is fraud. It is not for the industry to do so but, rather, to report suspected crimes to the Garda. Surely the industry reports suspected crimes to the Garda in order that it can investigate them. Mr. McGrath stated that after carrying out internal investigations, only 1% of claims are reported to the Garda. Is that an accurate figure in respect...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Sector: Discussion (4 Jul 2019)

Pearse Doherty: The figure for a one-year period gives us a good sense of the true position. How many fraudulent claims has AXA reported to the Garda?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Sector: Discussion (4 Jul 2019)

Pearse Doherty: If an insurer believes that a claim is fraudulent, should it not report it to the Garda regardless? AXA has carried out its own internal investigation, it believes that the claim is fraudulent and it is willing to come before this committee and provide figures on what it suggests is the number of potential fraudulent claims. When we drill down, however, out of 5,000 claims per annum, AXA is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Sector: Discussion (4 Jul 2019)

Pearse Doherty: It does not matter whether they are withdrawn. The crime has been committed. It may save AXA, but someone is committing a crime. AXA must report fraudulent claims to the Garda whether or not they are withdrawn.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Sector: Discussion (4 Jul 2019)

Pearse Doherty: I refer to the reforms for which many of us in these Houses are arguing and which would see the issue of fraudulent claims dealt with by the Garda fraud squad or the establishment of a variation of it. When will the insurance industry give us some transparency and tell its consumers and us as politicians bringing in these types of reforms what this will mean for customers? In October 2002,...

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)

Pearse Doherty: ...if the PIAB was to be involved, it would result in a reduction of 7.6%? That was very clear and verifiable. My concern is that while we need to do this in respect of the book of quantum and see An Garda Síochána taking enforcing action on fraudulent claims, there is no guarantee that any of the reductions will be passed on to customers. Past experience shows that the industry...

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)

Pearse Doherty: ...been happening forever and a day. I take a zero-tolerance position in respect of fraudulent activity and the Minister of State knows my position on it. I believe strongly that we should have a centralised Garda enforcement unit. This committee has agreed to invite the Garda Commissioner before it in order to tease out how we might look at the model he wants to deploy. Therefore, I take...