Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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37. To ask the Minister for Finance the steps he will take to ensure the cost of insurance working group schedule does not slip further; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50881/17]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Cost of Insurance Working Group – which is now chaired by Minister of State Mr. Michael D’Arcy T.D. – published its Report on the Cost of Motor Insurance on 10 January 2017.  The Report made 33 recommendations with 71 associated actions to be carried out in agreed timeframes, set out in an action plan within the Report. 

It is envisaged that the implementation of all the recommendations cumulatively, with the appropriate levels of commitment and cooperation from all relevant stakeholders, will achieve the objective of delivering fairer premiums for consumers.  In this regard, it should be noted that the most recent CSO data (for October) indicates that private motor insurance premiums have reduced by 15.2% from their peak last July.  While the CSO statistics indicate a greater degree of stability on an overall basis, these figures represent a broad average and therefore there are many people who may still be seeing increases.  However, I am hopeful that this greater stability in pricing will be maintained with the result that overall premiums should continue to fall from the very high levels of last year.

Work is ongoing on the implementation of the recommendations by the relevant Government Departments and Agencies and there is a commitment within the Report that the Working Group will prepare quarterly updates on its progress to track the timely and effective implementation of the required actions. 

The third such update was published on the Department’s website on 23 October 2017 and shows the progress to date on the overall implementation of the recommendations.  In total, 32 actions were due for completion in the first three quarters of the year and 29 of those actions have been completed, with substantial work undertaken in respect of the nine action points categorised as “ongoing”.

Updates on the state of play of the three outstanding actions are provided in the third progress report. While it is inevitable that some recommendations will take longer to implement than envisaged at the time when the Report was written, I am satisfied that in overall terms the recommendations of the Report are being implemented in a timely fashion and the responsible bodies are working hard to meet their deadlines.

Separately, you should note that the drafting phase of the Cost of Insurance Working Group’s Report on Employer Liability and Public Liability Insurance is nearing completion and I anticipate that it will be submitted to me for approval by the end of the year, with its subsequent publication in January following approval by Government.