2026-06-25

11. Deputy Tony McCormack asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance when the Cabinet subgroup on insurance reform will next meet; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48365/26]

The Tánaiste and I will know that the cost of insurance for families and businesses is probably one the biggest costs every year, be it car insurance, home insurance or general business insurance. Can the Tánaiste indicate when the Cabinet subgroup on insurance reform will next meet and will he make a statement on the matter?

I can indeed. I thank Deputy McCormack for his question. I see there are a lot of students in the Public Gallery. I am not sure what school they are from, but they are very welcome. They picked a lovely sunny day to come into the Dáil. I thank them for being here and hope they enjoy their summer holidays, which are coming shortly. As the Deputy will be aware, the programme for Government commits to maintaining the Cabinet committee subgroup on insurance reform to ensure insurance issues continue to receive strong attention, but also effective cross-government co-ordination. I chair that Cabinet subgroup, which meets on a regular basis to advance the action plan for insurance reform, but also to review progress made by each Minister in delivering his or her assigned actions. There is a responsibility on many Departments in this respect and the Cabinet committee provides us with an opportunity to bring people together. The most recent meeting of the subgroup took place last month. Several priority actions have been set out in the action plan, which are focused on areas where the greatest impact on transparency, affordability and availability of insurance can be achieved. As part of this, a new motor insurance transparency code was launched on 2 March 2026. I thank my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Troy, for his work on that. The code is designed to enhance trust, clarity, transparency and understanding. The idea is that people should get, with their premium, a piece of paper explaining the breakdown, composition and rationale behind it. Legislation to safeguard access to mortgage protection insurance for cancer survivors is also progressing through the Oireachtas. The Bill has passed through all Stages of Dáil Éireann and is making its way through Seanad Éireann. It is my intention, with the co-operation of everyone, that this be passed through the Oireachtas and signed into law this summer. This will be very important. As the Deputy will be aware, this legislation builds on the voluntary code of practice that is currently in place and which was issued by Insurance Ireland in December 2023. The idea is that a cancer diagnosis should be disregarded, where the person has got through their cancer journey, for the purpose of mortgage protection. It sets out a reduction in the required remission period for cancer survivors from seven to five years, as well as an increase in the sum assured threshold from €500,000 to €650,000. Work is also ongoing with the office to promote competition in the insurance market to enhance competition in the insurance market. We are also doing a lot of work on flood insurance and the flood insurance protection gap. The committee will meet again in formal session in September.

I welcome the Tánaiste's response and the work that has been undertaken on insurance reform in recent years. However, many businesses, sporting organisations, community groups and voluntary bodies continue to raise concerns with me and other TDs about the cost and availability of insurance. Will the Tánaiste specifically outline the key priorities the Cabinet subgroup will consider in its next meeting? Will it examine whether the savings arising from the reforms already introduced are being passed on through lower premiums? What further measures are under consideration to improve affordability?

Deputy McCormack is right. We have introduced significant reform in this sector and we now need the industry to ensure the benefit of those reforms are passed onto the customer. We have seen some progress in some areas but, frankly, we have not seen enough. We are very carefully monitoring this in the Cabinet committee. We are often asked for a long list and told if we do A, B, C and D, the premiums will fall. However, as the Deputy rightly suggested, we need to show this is actually happening. I am also conscious there needs to be greater transparency on this. The big priorities are seeing the motor insurance transparency code; passing the right to be forgotten Bill regarding cancer survivors; looking at the national claims information database regarding the cost of motor insurance and other trends; monitoring those trends in Ireland and internationally; making progress on the flood insurance gap; and, generally, driving delivery of our insurance reform agenda and the action plan for insurance reform out to 2029. On foot of Deputy McCormack raising this issue, I will ask the Minister of State, Deputy Troy, to write to him with a comprehensive update on the delivery of that action plan. It might be of use to some of those organisations the Deputy mentioned.

Small businesses are particularly vulnerable to increases in insurance costs. Unlike larger firms, they often have limited purchasing power and little capacity to absorb significant increases in premiums. For many, insurance is now one of their largest operating costs. Will the Tánaiste outline whether the Cabinet subcommittee is considering any targeted measures to improve competition and affordability in the insurance market for small businesses, in particular the scope for additional reforms to ensure smaller enterprises benefit fully from the Government's insurance reform programme?

This is a big area we are focusing on. I am conscious insurance costs are significant for all businesses, but they can have a disproportionate significance for smaller businesses, where a hike or an extra premium cost that was not expected could be the difference between viability or not. We have all met businesses in that place. Attracting more competition into the market is very important and helpful, and we are actively seeing what can be done in that space. Obviously, those are commercial decisions but making sure we keep our environment correct so that it is good and transparent and, at the same time, competitive for people to come in is a key issue. We will continue to work very closely on the concerns of small businesses in this area. The Minister of State, Deputy Troy, will keep Deputy McCormack up to date.