merrion street

Minister of State at the Department of Finance Eoghan Murphy T.D. today (Thursday 1 September 2016) chaired the second meeting of the Working Group reviewing the cost of insurance.
This Group which was set up by the Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan T.D., is chaired by Minister for State Eoghan Murphy T.D. and is focusing in its first phase on factors which influence the cost of motor insurance. Its remit is to identify immediate and longer term measures which can address increasing costs, while bearing in mind the need to maintain a stable insurance sector.
The Working Group today established four sub-groups to review in detail specific aspects of the complex insurance market. These sub-groups are dealing with:
Analysis of the Motor Insurance sector
Data, transparency and information sharing
The cost of claims process and
Other areas that impact costs (fraud, uninsured drivers, road traffic legislation, new technology etc.)
Minister Murphy stated that “by the end of October I want to have identified the priority actions required to tackle the costs of insurance and this will form the basis for an update report to the Minister for Finance, Minister Noonan. During November and December I will aim to agree an action plan to enable the relevant Government Departments to commence the implementation of these priority actions in the New Year.”
Minister Murphy commented further that “what we’ve seen recently is a number of parties in the insurance sector making their case and proposing solutions. What we need to do now is to build consensus around the problem and around appropriate solutions. This isn’t going to be resolved overnight, but I can give an assurance that actions will be introduced as speedily as possible.”
The Minister of State Eoghan Murphy T.D. welcomed the initiative of the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach to have public meetings to hear the views of interested stakeholders on the cost of motor insurance over the coming weeks. Minister Murphy will address the first meeting of the Oireachtas Committee on 7th September and has agreed to incorporate the outcome of the Committee hearings into the analysis of the Working Groups.
ENDS