Written answers
Thursday, 24 October 2024
Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
Insurance Industry
Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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78. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment with regard to his recent statement that “it is imperative that all stakeholders fully commit to supporting the reforms implemented through the Action Plan for Insurance Reform to fully deliver the benefits to businesses, communities and citizens across our country”, if he satisfied that all stakeholders are fully committed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43426/24]
Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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This Government has prioritised reform of the insurance sector via our ‘Action Plan for Insurance Reform’ published in December 2020. The Action Plan set out 66 actions to create a more competitive, stable and consumer-friendly insurance environment. The action plan is now almost complete.
Among key actions completed are the introduction of the Personal Injuries Guidelines; legislation to re-balance the duty of care; the reform and strengthening of the Injuries Resolution Board; and measures to tackle insurance fraud.
The substantial reforms carried out by Government, have made a significant difference in tackling the identified issues of the insurance sector including insurance fraud, high volume and high-cost personal injury claims and duty of care legislation.
Since the introduction of the Personal Injuries Guidelines in April 2021 we have seen a significant reduction in the cost of injury claims. Awards by the Injuries Resolution Board totalled €170 million in 2023 down 38% on the total awards of €275 million in 2019. The volume of injury claims has also considerably decreased. The number of injury claims to the Board last year was down 35% on 2019 figures.
Additionally, in 2023 the Injuries Resolution Board delivered savings of over €75 million in avoided costs due to personal injury claims being resolved through the Board’s non-adversarial model of assessment rather than proceeding to litigation.
I and my colleagues across Government, have fully delivered on our ambitious programme of reform. We now expect that the insurance sector play their part and that the benefits of the reform programme are reflected in both the availability and cost of insurance policies.
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