Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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162. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if amendments to sections 25 and 26 of the Civil Liability Act 2004 will be considered in order to make it a matter of routine that misleading insurance claims are reported to An Garda Síochána; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28160/18]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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The issues raised by the Deputy are among those being considered by the Cost of Insurance Working Group that was established by the Minister for Finance in July 2016 and is chaired by Minister of State, Michael D'Arcy TD. The objective of the Working Group is to identify and examine the drivers of the cost of insurance, and recommend short, medium and longer term measures to address the issue of increasing insurance costs, taking account of the requirement for the need to ensure a financially stable insurance sector. A significant factor identified by the Working Group in its reports, which are available with action updates on the Department of Finance website, is the impact of fraudulent insurance claims.

In its Report on the Cost of Motor Insurance published in January 2017, the Working Group reviewed sections 25 and 26 of the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004. It noted that the number of recorded prosecutions and convictions for the offence of false evidence in section 25 is very low and that this suggests a need for further co-operation between the insurance industry and An Garda Síochána. The Working Group noted its understanding that while the majority of the initial applications in respect of fraudulent actions under section 26 were refused it would appear from more recent reported judgments that more claims are now being dismissed following a successful action under section 26. The Working Group concluded that it is satisfied that sections 25 and 26 do not need further review.

However, a number of other measures are being taken by way of ensuring that sections 25 and 26 can have their intended effect in relation to insurance fraud. Key to this approach has been the convening of a roundtable by the Department of Finance in late 2017 to listen to the views of key stakeholders in relation to insurance fraud and which has met several times since to progress a number of specific recommendations contained in the Cost of Insurance Working Group’s Report of January 2018 relating to the Cost of Employer and Public Liability Insurance. Recommendations 11 and 12 of that report concern the production of statistics by An Garda Síochána and the Courts Service on complaints, investigations, prosecutions and convictions relating to fraud within the personal injuries area. My Department has liaised with the Garda authorities in relation to the production of these statistics, and I am informed that the necessary Pulse update is anticipated to be in place by the end of June 2018.

Recommendation 13 of the same report recommends that Insurance Ireland, An Garda Síochána and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions agree a set of guidelines in respect of the reporting of suspected fraudulent insurance claims. While guidelines were published in 2004, the Working Group noted that these have only been used to a very limited extent over the years and proposed that a new set of guidelines should be developed, using the 2004 iteration as a starting point.

In line with the intention to use the existing guidelines to inform the drafting of new, more fit for purpose guidelines, An Garda Síochána produced a draft document which was communicated to Insurance Ireland. The draft document proposed a number of changes to the section of the existing guidelines concerning the station or section within An Garda Síochána to which a formal complaint should be made. Insurance Ireland signalled its agreement with the changes proposed at the fraud roundtable session of 26 March. It was agreed that further consultations with stakeholders regarding the proposed guidelines would take place, including with insurance providers not represented by Insurance Ireland. Two such consultations have already been held and the next meeting of the Roundtable, scheduled for later this week, will aim to finalise the new guidelines in the context of the feedback received. Agreement on the new set of guidelines is expected to be completed on time in Quarter 3 2018.

The fraud roundtable process also intends to examine the follow-on procedure in circumstances where fraud or exaggeration is identified in court or acknowledged by a judge. Recommendation 12 of the Working Group’s Report on the Cost of Employer and Public Liability Insurance proposes that where an application under Section 26 of the Civil Liability Act 2004 is successful, this fact should be communicated to An Garda Síochána by the Courts Service. I understand that the fraud roundtable is currently engaging with the Courts Service in this regard.

As I think the Deputy will appreciate from these developments, a concerted policy approach is being taken with the support of the Cost of Insurance Working Group to address the issue of insurance fraud. This is being done by means of a series of mutually reinforcing measures that will include the type of enhanced Garda reporting that the Deputy has raised. At the same time they are intended, in their collective implementation, to give greater effect to the existing provisions of sections 25 and 26 of the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004 .

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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163. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to establish an insurance fraud unit in An Garda Síochána; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28161/18]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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Recommendation 26 of the ‘Report on the Cost of Motor Insurance’, published in January 2017, relates to exploring the potential for further cooperation between the insurance sector and An Garda Síochána in relation to insurance fraud investigation. Specifically, this involves considering the feasibility of establishing a specialised and dedicated insurance fraud unit within An Garda Síochána, funded by industry.

The Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB) has engaged with Insurance Ireland, submitting a mechanism for further cooperation and a costed proposal to Insurance Ireland in the latter half of 2017. Insurance Ireland has agreed to explore the proposal further, subject to a full cost benefit analysis, to be carried out by Insurance Ireland’s Chief Financial Officers Working Group. The intention would be that such a dedicated Garda unit would be funded by Insurance Ireland members and non-members alike, i.e. all entities writing non-life insurance business in Ireland.

Further progress on this recommendation is dependent upon the outcome of this cost benefit analysis, which is currently awaited. As I have previously informed the House, Insurance Ireland has indicated that it expects to be in a position to provide an update in this regard by the end of June 2018.

Any proposed agreed mechanism will, of course, ultimately be subject to the approval of the Garda Commissioner and myself, as Minister for Justice and Equality.