Sinn Féin votes against everything.

Nobody is doing that, though.

They would love that.

What about Cualanor, which the Deputy opposed?

And to treat water.

I thank Deputies Mattie McGrath, Michael Collins, Danny Healy Rae and O'Donoghue for tabling this motion in regard to the protection of cash in the financial system. I also thank all of those who have contributed to the debate so far. As the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, outlined, this is an important issue and a priority for the Government. We are not opposing the motion, given that it is so aligned with what the Government is trying to do, albeit to a slightly different timetable. I will outline that an…

I can speak as I like, as you do.

I addressed everyone's points.

I gave dates.

I said it will be the second half of this year.

Next year.

I gave the timeline.

We are doing the same thing. We are doing the work. I gave the timeline.

Yes.

Yes.

I will give two clarifications. Yes, that is what I am saying. The position now, in the absence of legislation, is what we are going to address by bringing through the national payments strategy in respect of the acceptance of cash and the requirement to accept cash as tender. In the absence of this legislation, it is a commercial decision and there is no legal obligation. What we have, then, is a vacuum in this regard and it is a commercial decision for businesses. I will give the Deputy two examples from my area.…

I thank the Deputy for the question. As he correctly said, the personal injuries guidelines were adopted in April 2021. They represent a central plank of the Government’s insurance reform agenda. Recent data from the Personal Injuries Assessment Board, PIAB, indicate that the overall average award has fallen by 38% compared with awards made in 2020 under the book of quantum. Given the pace of reform, and the many other measures being implemented, it is necessary for the insurance industry to pass on benefits to its…

I reiterate the statistics I have mentioned. The price of motor insurance has fallen 9.1% in a year while inflation has been rising. I know the Deputy does not accept that and that he does not accept the CSO data but those are the data available and those are the statistics we have. I have seen it in my own insurance premium and in those of my constituents. These are the figures. They are 43% lower. However, the Deputy is quite right to highlight the current inflationary environment and the difficulties being exper…

I agree with the Deputy in that regard but I will go back to my point about the Private Member's Bill. In essence, it duplicates the national claims information database.

I am afraid it does. The NCID has been enhanced to collect additional data following the introduction of the personal injury guidelines. The fourth private motor report, published in November 2022, shows some initial data on the guidelines up to the end of 2021. This will be developed in future reports. As Minister of State with special responsibility for insurance, I have engaged with PIAB to see how things are going and to work out any process issues it is facing, if any. This is a very practical implementation o…