James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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22. To ask the Minister for Finance the amount that motor insurance premiums have fallen since the current Government entered office in June 2020. [30064/22]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Motor insurance is mandatory, in that every person intending to use a vehicle on a public road must have third-party cover at a minimum. Therefore, it is important that motor insurance is affordable, which is why this Government has continued to prioritise efforts to reduce costs for motorists as part of the Action Plan for Insurance Reform.In that regard, I am pleased to note that data from both the Central Statistics Office (CSO), and National Claims Information Database (NCID), show that prices are continuing to fall for private motor insurance.

The latest CSO Consumer Price Index (CPI) for May 2022 data indicates that the price of motor insurance is now 16% lower than in June 2020, when this Government was formed. This is clear evidence that reforms have the desired policy impact. According to the CSO CPI, the price of motor insurance has also declined by 10.9% year-on-year.

In the context of the European market, the Eurostat Consumer Prices show Ireland had the largest price reduction in motor insurance premiums in the EU in the 12 months to April 2022, at 11.7%.

This downward trend of motor insurance prices is also separately validated by data from the National Claims Information Database (NCID), with the last motor report indicating that the average earned premium per policy peaked at €708 in Q4 2017, and declined by 16% to €595 in Q4 2020.

I expect that the next NCID report on private motor insurance, due later this year, will show a continued decrease in insurance prices, as the impact of the various Government reforms in this area continue to bed in and take effect.