Linda Nelson Murray (Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. I hope that he and the Minister, Jim O'Callaghan, hear what I have to say.

Yesterday, the Central Bank showed that motor insurance premiums increased by 9% in the first half of last year. No doubt in the next six months we will learn they have risen again. In December 2024, the Personal Injuries Guidelines Committee recommended that awards in personal injury cases be increased across the board by 16.7%.

The introduction of the personal injury guidelines three years ago was one of the most impactful reforms made to insurance in decades and was a significant part of the previous Government's commitment to reducing premiums for us all, be it for a car, business, employer liability or sports club. The reason we did it is that we were total outliers compared to other countries. Our awards were sometimes 100% higher. Compared to our neighbours in England, our awards were 440% higher on average. There is no doubt that we needed the guidelines. This meant insurance companies paid out more, and people were more likely to claim for small injuries prior to the change.

We implemented the guidelines, which reduced awards. We saw a 40% reduction in claims volumes for personal injuries sustained by visitors to businesses and in public spaces between 2019 and 2023. Claims in cafés, hotels and restaurants have more than halved. Shops and stores have seen a 44% decrease and sporting and athletics areas have seen a 38% reduction in claims. In childcare settings, a sector that has historically reported high insurance costs, only 256 personal injury claims were identified over five years. Compare this to the nearly 170,000 children enrolled in the years 2020 and 2021. The Minister of State should not get me wrong: our awards are still higher than those in many other countries but, as can be seen, it was a pivotal moment and was instrumental in reducing premiums.

If we fast-forward to now, only three years after the introduction of the guidelines, the guidelines committee has made the recommendation that the awards go up by 16.7%. The suggested increases by the committee cannot be allowed to happen. We do not want to see insurance for cars, cafés, community groups, charities, football clubs and golf clubs rise. I guarantee that if we allow the personal injury guidelines to go up, that is exactly what will happen.

Such increases would also impede the work of the Injuries Resolution Board. The previous Government did all it could to get claims processed through it. Legal costs are already a substantial problem and will only increase if this proposal is adopted. Right now, businesses are faced with a myriad of increased costs and we simply cannot add more fuel to the fire by doing something that will drive premiums up.

I previously mentioned that I am one of the people impacted. My husband and I run a leisure business where so many kids leave with smiles on their faces. The guidelines will ensure that any type of activity where people have fun - playing sport, enjoying a festival or going to a restaurant - will find it even more difficult to get insurance. Does the Minister of State know that the only reason play centres in Ireland have insurance is because we have a group insurance scheme? In other words, such is still the difficulty of getting insurance that the play centres we all know in our constituencies would more than likely not be there if it was not for group insurance schemes.

In recent years, we witnessed an excellent programme of insurance reform delivered by the previous Government, but before we can even reap the great results of it, we are already planning to increase the awards. The Oireachtas is required to consider and approve the proposals of the Judicial Council. The proposals are on the desk of the Minister of State's colleague, the Minister, Jim O'Callaghan. I respectfully appreciate that he has a very difficult job to do in this regard but I recommend that, as a matter of urgency, the issue be assigned to the relevant Oireachtas committee so that it can be thoughtfully considered in an open forum and with proper public debate on the appropriate path forward.

If we continually review upwards personal injury awards every three years, not only will awards increase but legal fees will, too. In our programme for Government, the Government committed to further action to drive down insurance costs that impact households, motorists and businesses. This is our first test. I urge the Minister not to let his local running club, café, crèche, play centre or festival suffer and to pause the increase in personal injury awards.