James Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have raised this issue on the Order of Business a number of times. It concerns the cost of doing business in Ireland. The committee launched a report yesterday and one of the three big things we dealt with was the rising cost of insurance. Some businesses are finding it impossible to continue, while others can no longer expand because of increased premiums, some of which have doubled in one year. One of the main reasons behind this is fraud. We have all heard in the general media of road traffic accidents being staged and I have seen videos of accidents being staged in public toilet areas of restaurants and other public buildings such as shops.

One of the groups to appear before us was the Alliance for Insurance Reform, which represents organisations like The Wheel, Play Centres, Ireland Active, the Association of Irish Festival Events, the Irish Hotels Federation, the Restaurants Association of Ireland, the Irish Road Haulage Association, Ireland's Association for Adventure Tourism and many more. They represent not just businesses but charities too and they are finding it impossible to keep up with the rate of inflation in insurance.

Currently, there seems to be no consequence for individuals who engage in insurance fraud but it is a crime for which we are all paying. In its excellent presentation, the group brought forward solutions and suggestions. One of the solutions was to set up a Garda insurance fraud unit. Its members suggested it be funded by the insurance industry but I do not think that is necessarily a good idea. We definitely need an insurance fraud unit in An Garda Síochána as there have to be consequences for people who engage in this sort of thing.

They also suggested looking at the book of quantum as the awards in this country are way out of kilter with those in other jurisdictions, with between three and five and a half times as much being paid out for the same injury here as in the UK, as an example. Nobody wants to interfere with judicial independence but if the book of quantum is exceeded by a judge he or she could, in the interests of transparency, give a written explanation as to why. We respect the fact that they are entitled to do it but we need an explanation as to why is it done in particular cases.

I look forward to the Minister's response to the very reasonable suggestions to which I referred. They also asked for sections 26 and 25 of the Civil Liability Act to be linked so that exaggerated and misleading claims are automatically forwarded to gardaí for investigation, and prosecution if necessary.