Action Plan for Insurance Reform: Statements Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-13 ============================================================ Pat Casey (FF), Labour Panel I welcome the Minister of State to the House again this afternoon. I also welcome the opportunity to speak on insurance reform and particularly its very real impact on the SME sector, retailers and the wider business community. It is an impact that I am experiencing myself. This is not an abstract policy issue but something we hear about constantly from small business owners on the main street, from cafés, childcare providers and employers trying to keep their doors open in an already challenging environment. While it is important to begin by acknowledging progress, we must also be honest about the challenges that remain. There has been progress. Reforms introduced in recent years, particularly around personal injury costs and the establishment of the Injuries Resolution Board have helped to stabilise parts of the system. We have also seen improvements in transparency and early signs of increased market competition. Those advances matter and do make a difference. They show that reform can work. However, for many SMEs, the experience on the ground tells a more complicated story because what businesses, including my own, have experienced is very clear. It is not just premiums that are the problem any more; it is the quality of cover. Businesses are increasingly facing higher excesses, tighter exclusions and reduced levels of protection. Every year we have to sit down and look at the cost of the replacement of our buildings, fixtures and fittings, payroll, turnover and our excess. We are all of the time, every year, reducing our cover and exposing ourselves to further costs. In other words, we are not just paying more but are also carrying more of the risks ourselves. If we measure success purely by headline premiums, we are missing what is actually happening in the real economy. The real test of reform is whether businesses can obtain affordable, reliable cover that genuinely protects them but in too many cases, they cannot. This brings me to the first key issue, which is transparency. For a long time insurance has operated like a black box. Premiums go up and down and customers, whether individuals or businesses, are left guessing as to why. The new transparency measures are a step in the right direction and I welcome the Minister of State's leadership in that regard. Providing clear information at renewal on what was paid last year, what is being charged now and the reasons behind charges is a simple but important shift. It provides information that is critical. When businesses understand what is driving their costs, whether that is claims trends, repair costs, or inflation, they are in a stronger position to make decisions to shop around and to manage that risk. Transparency on its own is not enough, however. We need real competition. If we want a sustainable reduction in our costs we need providers in the market and more meaningful choice for customers. Some sectors have no choice and have only one insurance provider while others still cannot get insurance at all at the moment. While we have seen some new entrants, progress must be actively driven. The office to promote competition in the insurance market has a critical role to play here and it must be properly resourced and supported through delivery because without that urgency, SMEs will continue to face limited options and persistent cost pressures. Perhaps the most significant issue we must address is the cost of claims, particularly legal costs. The data here is very clear. For routine claims the level of compensation awarded through the Injuries Resolution Board and through litigation is broadly similar but the route taken makes a massive difference. A larger majority of cases still proceed through litigation, a process that is significantly slower and significantly more expensive. Cases that could be resolved in around two years are taking longer than six years. Anybody in business that has a claim against it knows that every year that comes around, it is paying a premium on a premium. If a business pays that premium on a premium for six years, it amounts to a significant sum of money. That needs to be addressed. Even at the end of the process if the claim is found to be fraudulent or no award is made there is no redress for the business and no way to get any of that premium on a premium back. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-05-13/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:56+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-05-13