Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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58. To ask the Minister for Finance the progress to date in implementing the report of the cost of insurance working group; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38196/18]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware, the Cost of Insurance Working Group undertook an examination of the factors contributing to the cost of insurance in order to identify what short, medium and long-term measures could be introduced to help reduce the cost of insurance for consumers and businesses.

The initial focus of the Working Group was the issue of rising motor insurance premiums and the Report on the Cost of Motor Insurance was published in January 2017, containing 33 recommendations with 71 associated actions.

In its second phase, the Working Group examined the cost of business insurance, in particular employer liability insurance and public liability insurance. This work culminated in the publication in January 2018 of the Report on the Cost of Employer and Public Liability Insurance, with 15 recommendations and 29 associated actions to be carried out.

Both of the primary Reports contain an Action Plan, setting out the agreed timelines for implementation, and also a commitment that the Working Group will prepare quarterly updates on its progress. The Working Group has published six such updates, most recently in August.

The Sixth Quarterly Update shows that 58 of the 71 deadlines placed on actions across the two reports to date have been completed. One of the actions achieved during this time was the delivery of the final report of the Personal Injuries Commission, which merges the content of what had been intended to be two reports. This report was published on Tuesday this week and the implementation of its key recommendations should have an impact upon the awarding of personal injury damages in the future.

As well as the actions which have been finalised, it is important also to consider the continued progress being made on some of the large scale actions. One area of significant progress has been the markedly enhanced levels of engagement and cooperation between An Garda Síochána and the insurance industry since the creation of the Fraud Roundtable. This has led not only to the agreement of a protocol between An Garda Síochána and insurers in relation to the reporting of suspected fraudulent personal injury claims but also a commitment for the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau and Insurance Ireland’s Anti-Fraud Forum to meet on a regular basis in order to discuss and act upon current and ongoing relevant issues in this area.

Much progress has also been made on putting in place a National Claims Information Database with the recently published Central Bank (National Claims Information Database) Bill 2018. The second stage debate on that legislation is scheduled to take place in the Dáil today. The enactment of this Bill will provide us with much greater insight into, in particular, the identification of settlement channel information which should lead to a greater consistency in award levels and a greater use of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board. This would result in a more stable claims environment, in turn positively influencing the price of insurance paid by consumers.

I believe that the reforms which we have been implementing since January 2017 are already showing positive results. The cost of private motor insurance as measured by the Central Statistics Office on a monthly basis has fallen by over 20% since the high premiums seen in July 2016. I appreciate that these figures represent a broad average however we have to recognise that these are the same figures that showed the large increase that many commentators regularly reference. Therefore, I think it has to be recognised that the overall trend currently is downward, which is welcome.