Bobby Aylward (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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80. To ask the Minister for Finance the status of the implementation of the recommendations made in the report by the working programme on reducing the cost of motor insurance; the number of recommendations that have not been implemented to date; the reason for same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31035/18]

Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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97. To ask the Minister for Finance the status of the implementation of the report on the cost of insurance working group for motor insurance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30967/18]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 80 and 97 together.

The Cost of Insurance Working Group’s Report on the Cost of Motor Insurance was published in January 2017 and makes 33 recommendations with 71 associated actions to be carried out in agreed timeframes, set out in an Action Plan.

In line with the commitment to publish quarterly update reports on the implementation of the recommendations of the Motor Report, the Working Group has published five such updates, most recently on 11th May last. This report shows that of the 50 separate relevant deadlines within the Action Plan set up to the end of Q1 2018, one relates to an action no longer being proceeded with; of the remaining 49 deadlines, 40 have been met. Substantial work has also been undertaken in respect of the nine action points categorised as “ongoing”.

In respect of the nine actions which were not fully completed by the end of Q1 2018 as scheduled, three relate to legislation issues, while another requires further discussion, and subsequent final agreement, between the Department and Insurance Ireland. Other outstanding actions are contingent on, respectively, the establishment of the new Office of the Legal Costs Adjudicators, the development of a register of personal injuries proceedings by the Courts Service, and the completion of an extensive examination by the Personal Injuries Commission. The remaining two actions both relate to Recommendation 26, which requires the approval of both the Minister for Justice and Equality and the Garda Commissioner for potentially far-reaching cooperative mechanisms between Insurance Ireland and An Garda Síochána to be formalised.

It should be recognised that significant progress has been made in respect of the implementation of all nine of these aforementioned actions, most particularly regarding the establishment of a new National Claims Information Database. Also, it must be acknowledged that the average cost of motor insurance has been consistently falling since the middle of 2016, with the most recent CSO data (for May 2018) indicating that private motor insurance premiums have decreased by 19% since peaking in July 2016.

Finally, it is envisaged that the sixth quarterly update will be completed around the end of July. This update will provide details on the implementation of all of the recommendations from both the Motor and Employer/Public Liability Reports, with a particular focus placed upon the 14 actions with Q2 2018 deadlines, including seven actions from the Report on the Cost of Motor Insurance.