Linda Nelson Murray (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Many of us will be aware of the publication today of the report of the national claims information database, NCID. The establishment of the NCID was one of the recommendations made by the cost of insurance working group, which was established in 2016 by the then Minister for Finance. Today's NCID liability report may surprise you. Why? It states the average legal cost is less than €1,000 for cases finalised through the injuries board but in excess of €23,000 once cases enter litigation. Even more surprising is that the award for claimants – what they get or their payout – was €23,000 whether they went through the injuries board or litigation. The Government needs to encourage people to process their claims through the Injuries Resolution Board because, if we continue to see cases brought through the litigation process, it will continue to have an adverse effect on businesses, which could result in businesses closing and people losing their jobs.

The cost of insurance overheads for businesses and organisations is still a major problem. Today's report shows there has been a 17% increase from 2019 to 2023 in cases going through the litigation route. To add to that, the recommendation put before the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, to make an increase in respect of the personal injury guidelines, which commenced only in 2022, is a pure recipe for disaster. Our figures are still higher than those of many of our European counterparts, including our closest neighbour, the UK, and that is after the reductions of three years ago. To date, we have not seen the impact of the Government's substantial reforms from the past four years because insurance premiums are still not coming down and, in fact, have risen 17% since 2020. Insurance Ireland would lead you to believe this has all to do with inflation.

I call today for three very important tasks to be completed. First, we should encourage less litigation and more claims through the Injuries Resolution Board. Second, we should not increase the personal injury awards. Third, we should demand that insurers reduce premiums based on the many reforms they in fact requested years ago and are now completed. These three asks involve the Minister for Justice, the Minister responsible for insurance, the Minister for Finance and the Minister for enterprise. I call for a cohesive approach to ensure motorists, business owners, homeowners, sports clubs and local community organisations can obtain fair insurance.