Firms call for urgent action on proposals

Businesses lobbying for insurance reform welcomed yesterday's Oireachtas committee's report but said premiums would only fall if its recommendations were implemented urgently.

Mr Peter Boland, director of the Alliance for Insurance Reform, which represents 800 large and small companies, said: "The report must be viewed in the context of actual delivered results and, as yet, no legislation has been enacted and insurance premiums have not started to fall."

The Small Firms' Association also said the pace of reform had to go much faster and deeper. Its director, Mr Pat Delaney, said the association supported the committee's call for the abolition of the Government's 2 per cent levy on insurance premiums. He also said the current method of dealing with personal injuries' claims was not working.

"We appear to be always one report short of action. The evidence is overwhelming and it is clear from any analysis that the personal injury compensation system does not work and tinkering around at the edges will not solve the problem. It is time for fundamental change."

He said it was nine months since the announcement of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board, yet the only result had been the heads of a bill providing for its establishment.

Small- and medium-sized businesses in particular have been hit by high insurance costs, said ISME (Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association), which estimates that more than 3,000 jobs have been lost and 100 companies have closed because of the size of premiums.

Businesses also welcomed the focus of the report on the legal profession and calls for an inquiry into solicitors' fees for personal injury claims.

However, the director general of the Law Society, Mr Ken Murphy, defended solicitors' costs and said they were decided by an independent official.

"All lawyers' fees in litigation are subject to an independent review by a State official, who is the taxing master. They are not set by lawyers. It is this official's responsibility to ensure fees are fair to both sides," he said.

The Irish Hotels' Federation welcomed the report and said its recommendations should help bring insurance costs more in line with European countries.

Chief executive Mr John Brown said: "The federation, which has seen many of its members crippled by high insurance costs in recent years looks forward to the speedy implementation of the many recommendations, which will result in the reduction in frequency and size of individual's claims, and ensure speed and efficiency in processing genuine cases."

The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland also called on the committee to examine the issue of professional indemnity insurance. Deputy president Mr Terence O'Rourke said that indemnity insurance, which is mandatory for accountants and many professionals, had increased by between 60 and 400 per cent in the last year.

He said the institute's request to the Tánaiste that the issue be examined by the Competition Authority had not been taken up and it was now time for a body such as the Oireachtas committee to investigate the issue.