Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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325. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the most recent statistics on complaints and investigations relating to fraud within the personal injuries area as specified in recommendation 11 of the cost of insurance working group; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31440/19]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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As I noted in response to Parliamentary Question 269 of 18 June 2019, the most recent figures provided to me by An Garda Síochána show that, in the period 1 November 2018 (please note the corrected date) to end May 2019, 50 incidents of insurance fraud were recorded on PULSE. This equates to just over seven reports per month, with 1 November 2018 being the date on which a new category for "insurance fraud" went live on PULSE. 50% of these incidents related to staged collisions.

It is important to note that the aforementioned figures refer to reports being made to An Garda Síochána in the respective timeframe. Many of the alleged incidents reported during that period are historical in nature and occurred outside of the reporting timeframe.

It is also important to note that, while all incidents come under the umbrella of the "insurance fraud" category, not all of them relate to bogus insurance claims. For example, incidents of forged 'no claims bonus' documents, while being an insurance fraud, does not necessarily relate to a bogus insurance claim. Alternatively, a report of a staged collision clearly does link to a bogus insurance claim. Such nuances should be kept in mind when analysing this data.

Finally, An Garda Síochána have stressed that the data is correct as at 6 June 2019, however as it is operational data it is, therefore, subject to change.