Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein)
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111. To ask the Minister for Finance the specific steps he has taken to reduce and curtail the spiralling costs of car insurance and HGV insurance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35318/17]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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My predecessor as Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, established the Cost of Insurance Working Group in 2016 in order to examine the factors contributing to the increasing cost of insurance and identify what short, medium and long-term measures can be introduced to help to reduce the cost of insurance for consumers and businesses.  The initial focus of the Working Group was the problem of rising motor insurance premiums and a broad range of issues affecting the cost of motor insurance were examined, including those raised by the Irish Road Haulage Association and the Freight Transport Association Ireland, both of whom were consulted with as part of the Working Group’s consultation process.

The Working Group’s Report on the Cost of Motor Insurance was published in January 2017.  The Report makes 33 recommendations with 71 associated actions to be carried out in agreed timeframes, which are clearly set out in an Action Plan.  45 of these action points are due to be implemented by the end of this year with the remainder scheduled for completion before the conclusion of 2018.

There is a commitment within the Report that the Working Group will prepare quarterly updates on its progress and the first such update was published in early May.  The second quarterly update was published on the Department's website on 21 July 2017 and shows the progress to date on the overall implementation of the recommendations, with a particular focus on the 17 action points which were due for completion in the second quarter of 2017. All 17 of these action points have been completed by their deadline.

It should be noted that the most recent CSO data (for June) indicates that motor insurance premiums have reduced by 10.2% year-on-year.  I accept that while CSO statistics indicate a greater degree of stability on an overall basis, these figures only represent a broad average and that there are many people who are still seeing increases.  I take the view that while the greater stability in pricing is a good thing, premiums are still at a very high level. 

However, I do believe that the implementation of the Report on the Cost of Motor Insurance will make a difference to the pricing of insurance premiums over the next 18 months.  I also believe that the Setanta judgment, by finding that MIBI is not liable to meet third party claims, removes a major uncertainty from the industry, which I would expect to be reflected in pricing in the short to medium term.