Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 4:

In page 17, between lines 23 and 24, to insert the following:"22.The Minister shall submit to both Houses of the Oireachtas an annual report on the regulation of the Insurance sector including solvency, premium increases, competitiveness and all matters included in Part 4 of the Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2015.".

I have a number of concerns in this regard, including a bill for €92 million for Setanta which was supposed to operate in Malta, massive losses in Quinn and, before that, in PMPA and the Insurance Corporation of Ireland. Such matters were within the province of the Minister for Industry and Commerce, the portfolio having had various changes of title since. In its 2015 report, the National Competitiveness Council stated the Minister should present reports on financial regulation, which now includes insurance. We have a bad record in this field, with insurance companies going bankrupt, and a bad record of high claims and high costs, and people such as Mr. Conor Faughnan have referred to this recently. As this legislation will put insurance firmly in financial services rather than in its previous location, there is a need from the point of view of national competitiveness for us to call the sector to account.

I do not know how Setanta, being registered in Malta, is an Irish cost. The other companies were obviously not very well supervised. I understand Setanta is also the Catalan word for 70, so I do not know whether we could have transferred it from Malta to that part of Spain. Insurance has been a nuisance and a high cost in the Irish economy for a long time, and the National Competitiveness Council recommends it should be part of a report on the financial sector. Something seems to be wrong as its costs are increasing, claims are excessive compared with jurisdictions with which we compete such as the United Kingdom, much higher rates of damages are paid and we have much higher incidence of whiplash. Of course, a constant mantra is the much higher level of legal costs. If we do not regulate the insurance sector thoroughly, which is the purpose of the amendment, it will be a burden on the rest of the economy.