Tánaiste: Law to make insurance companies pass on savings 'sensible idea'

Sinn Féin's Pearse Doherty said the insurance industry "cannot and should not" be trusted to deliver lower prices on its own, and claimed the industry had acted in a "cartel-like" manner 

Sinn Féin's Pearse Doherty said that the personal injury guidelines would see lower awards to people who go to court and that these savings had to be passed on to the consumer. 

Legislation forcing insurance companies to pass on the savings made from lower injury awards is a "sensible idea", the Tánaiste has told the Dáil.

Taking Leaders' Questions, Leo Varadkar said that the Government had worked to reform the insurance industry in recent years. 

He said that junior finance minister Sean Fleming had been meeting with insurance company CEOs to "impress upon them" the need for savings from the new lower insurance awards to be passed on to the customer in the form of lower premiums.

Sinn Féin's Pearse Doherty said that the insurance industry "cannot and should not" be trusted to deliver lower prices on its own. 

He said that the industry had acted in a "cartel-like" manner and had "shown contempt for its customers".

Mr Doherty said that the personal injury guidelines would see lower awards to people who go to court and that these savings had to be passed on to the consumer. 

He said that this had been provided for in the UK with savings passed on "pound for pound".

Mr Varadkar said that while he would have to see a full proposal and the matter would be one for Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe, it was "a sensible idea on the face of it".

He said that the Government had done work to overhaul insurance to make it "more affordable and more available". 

Mr Varadkar said that he was willing to take legislation from Mr Doherty on the matter.

Mr Doherty said that the six largest insurance companies here abided by the UK legislation and said that the Government has a "duty to ensure the customer is benefitting".

Labour's Alan Kelly raised the "bombshell" which he said Health Minister Stephen Donnelly had dropped this morning when he said that the Government's 80% target of vaccinating adults by the end of June was in doubt.

In response, Mr Varadkar said that the Irish people had reason to be hopeful going into the summer. 

He said that Friday's announcement on a further easing of restrictions would be "very positive". 

He said that if vaccine targets are missed, they will be missed "by a few weeks" but said that 97% of vaccine stocks are being administered as quickly as possible.

Mr Varadkar said that there is not yet any advice that says that the interval between doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine should be shortened.