The action plan on the Irish insurance market announced by the the Tánaiste, Ms Harney, today has met with mixed reaction. The plan will be brought before the Government within weeks Ms Harney said.
The action plan was drafted in response to recommendations made in the recent report by the Motor Insurance Advisory Body (MIAB).
Ms Harney said the plan would be wider in scope than the MIAB report and would look at court procedures, the provision of greater information to the consumer and enforcement of the Road Traffic Acts.
Ms Harney said the Competition Authority is to study the insurance market including the factors blocking foreign insurers from entering the Irish market.
"The fact that there are so few players willing to make a market in some types of insurance impacts not only on the availability of cover but also on the premium paid by policyholders," she said
She also confirmed her intention to establish the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) on an interim basis from next month. Work on compiling a database of court awards in compensation cases is to begin ahead of appointments to the PIAB.
"The PIAB is not designed to reduce levels of compensation as has been unhelpfully suggested in some quarters. The board will instead bring about reductions in the cost of delivering compensation. This will reduce insurance costs while hugely benefiting the policy holder," she said.
But Labour Party spokesperson on enterprise, trade and employment, Mr Tommy Broughan, described the action plan a "damp squib".
"This is not so much an action plan as simply a list of reheated promises, many of which have been made before," he said.
He said Ms Harney had the McAuley Committee report which proposed a personal injuries assessment board on her desk since 1997.
"In addition, it is now more than five months since the Motor Insurance Advisory Body delivered its report, yet not one of the recommendations have been implemented."
The announcement was, however, welcomed by the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland who desdribed the the PIAB as a step in the right direction but not a panacea.
John Dunne, Chief Executive of CCI, said: "It will help reduce litigation costs, which add as much as 50 per cent to every euro paid in compensation under employer and public liability insurance."