Written answers

Tuesday, 22 May 2018

Department of Justice and Equality

Motor Insurance Regulation

Photo of Michael McGrathMichael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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251. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality when he expects a report on the impact of legal and other fees on personal injury awards under recommendation No. 22 of the report on the cost of motor insurance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22354/18]

Photo of Michael McGrathMichael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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265. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality when he expects to introduce the legislation covering recommendation No. 16 of the report on the cost of motor insurance dealing with pre-action protocols for personal injury cases; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22350/18]

Photo of Michael McGrathMichael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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266. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality when he expects a report on the impact of changes to the court jurisdictional limits under recommendation No. 23 of the report on the cost of motor insurance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22355/18]

Photo of Michael McGrathMichael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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267. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality when he expects the examination of the discount rate for personal injury lump sum awards to be completed under recommendation No. 24 of the report on the cost of motor insurance; the number of times his Department has met with the Department of Finance and the State Claims Agency on this recommendation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22356/18]

Photo of Michael McGrathMichael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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269. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if he will dedicate more resources to the Courts Service to adequately maintain a register of personal injury actions under section 30 of the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004 with regard to recommendation No. 27 of the report on the cost of motor insurance; his views on whether amending legislation will be required; when he expects to introduce such legislation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22358/18]

Photo of Charles FlanaganCharles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 251, 265 to 267, inclusive, and 269 together.

The Report on the Cost of Motor Insurance, published in January 2017, was prepared by the Cost of Insurance Working Group which is currently chaired by my colleague, Michael D’Arcy T.D., Minister of State at the Department of Finance with special responsibility for Financial Services and Insurance. I and my Department, and its relevant agencies, continue to support the Chair and members of the Working Group in their working objective to identify immediate and longer term measures which can address increasing costs, while bearing in mind the need to maintain a stable insurance sector. Moreover, my Department continues to discuss these matters and those recommendations arising in appropriate detail and directly with the membership of the Working Group which also includes the Department of Finance, the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, the Central Bank of Ireland, the State Claims Agency and the Personal Injuries Assessment Board.

In replying to the series of Questions from Deputy McGrath, I would like to take this opportunity to point out that the Department of Finance produces regular quarterly updates on the progress of the main Report of the Working Group on the Cost of Insurance by reference to the specific recommendations made including those which fall to my Department. The most recent of these, publicly available on the website of the Department of Finance, is the Fifth Quarterly Progress Update which was published on 11 May 2018. This latest update also includes details of the implementation of the Action Plan of the Report on the Cost of Employer and Public liability Insurance published by the Working Group in January 2018. In replying to each of the recommendations that have been raised by Deputy McGrath I will, therefore, be reflecting the content of the Fifth Quarterly Progress Update as it relates to my Department.

Recommendation 16 of the Motor Report seeks to ascertain and set out the measures necessary to implement pre-action protocols for personal injury cases. Draft Heads have been prepared by my Department to provide for regulations on the use of such protocols. The draft Heads are being discussed further with the a view to their being agreed in this Quarter. It should also be remembered that their introduction is being informed by the development of such protocols for medical negligence cases under Part 15 of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 for which I expect to issue the relevant regulations soon.

Recommendation 22 of the Motor Report is to examine the impact of legal and other fees on personal injury awards. While the review has been commenced, definitive conclusions from somewhat limited available data have been difficult to draw to date. However, in the context of the set-up of the new Office of the Legal Costs Adjudicators which is to replace that of the Taxing-Master under the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015, a new publicly accessible Register of Determinations is to be maintained which will provide enhanced data for such purposes.

Recommendation 23 of the Motor Report is to review the impact of the changes to the court jurisdictional limits as they evolve. The Courts Service has provided my Department a first provisional data set which is being analysed at present and matters are on track for a report to be submitted to the Working Group by the required deadline of Q2 2018.

Recommendation 24 of the Motor Report is to examine the setting of the discount rate in personal injury lump sum awards. My Department is examining this issue in consultation with the Department of Finance and the State Claims Agency with whom it has also met specifically on this issue. As part of this work, account is being taken of recent Irish case law and of relevant developments in the United Kingdom and their potential applicability in an Irish context. The relevant findings will be brought soon for consideration by the Working Group.

Recommendation 27 of the Motor Report is to review section 30 of the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004 which provides that the Courts Service will establish and maintain a register of personal injuries actions. While the development of the register has been progressed by the Courts Service there are some issues of a technical and data protection nature which have arisen and require further consideration. The Courts Service may wish to propose amendments to section 30 and intends to report on these aspects in Q2 2018. My Department will consider this report when it is received in consultation with the Working Group.

My commitment and that of my Department to the Cost of Insurance Working Group is reflected in the fact that my Department and its relevant agencies have the lead in the implementation of 8 of the recommendations of the Report on the Cost of Motor Insurance and 9 of the recommendations of the Report on the Cost of Employer and Public Liability Insurance. This commitment is also reflected in the continuing and active participation of officials of my Department in the deliberations of the Working Group and those of its Legal Sub-Group as well as in the work of the Personal Injuries Commission which has been set up on recommendation of the Working Group. We continue to work closely with Minister of State D'Arcy as Chair and with other members of the Working Group in support of insurance costs reform under this key Government initiative.

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