Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

I am delighted and very grateful. Both Senators have made a great contribution.

Everyone is concerned about this fundamental issue which affects young people in particular and is the source of the greatest number of representations made to Members of the Oireachtas. I previously served as Minister of State at the Department of Industry and Commerce. Although I did not have direct responsibility for the relevant section of the Department, I am aware that this area has always given rise to major difficulties and successive Governments have tried to tackle it in many ways.

The recent contribution by the Minister for Transport has had an enormous effect on reducing the level of fatalities on the roads. Although this should be reflected in a reduction in motor insurance costs, that is not always the case. Some years ago there was an agreement that there would no longer be two senior counsels and a junior counsel appearing in court cases and I believe legislation was passed. While this was supposed to lead to a major reduction in the cost of premiums, unfortunately it did not do so.

While the insurance market in Ireland is not very competitive, it is also not very profitable. It is difficult to discover what are the profit margins of insurance companies. As Members are aware, the Joint Committee on Enterprise and Small Business and the Department are examining this issue. Between 2000 and 2002, the previous joint committee met representatives of many organisations. While the current joint committee deals with insurance in the broad sense, it also deals with motor insurance particularly for young people.

The Motor Insurance Advisory Board report on reforms of the motor insurance market published on 17 April 2002 made 67 recommendations. The Government accepted the report's findings and took steps to implement the recommendations. Since then, work to drive forward the Government's insurance market reform programme has included: the appointment of a cross-departmental industrial implementation group; the publication of the MIAB action plan; the establishment of a ministerial committee, chaired by the Tánaiste and incorporating the briefs of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Transport and Justice, Equality and Law Reform, to oversee implementation of the MIAB recommendations; and the establishment of an interim Personal Injuries Assessment Board, PIAB, chaired by Dorothea Dowling, author of the MIAB report.