The Irish Hotels Federation today welcomed the interim report on Reforms to the Irish Insurance Market published by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Enterprise and Small Business. The 40 recommendations highlighted in the report should, if quickly implemented, result in bringing Ireland's insurance costs more in line with those ruling in other European countries.

The Federation commends the speed of the publication of this report and particularly welcomes the assurance's given by Chairman Donie Cassidy TD that the committee will continue to sit and monitor the insurance situation over the next four years. This is a positive indicator of the committee's commitment to address and positively impact on the problem of crippling insurance costs.

John Power, Chief Executive of the IHF, comments, "We are delighted to see that many of the recommendations that the IHF made to the Joint Oireachtas Committee in July having been taken on board in this report and view it as an important step in the right direction for Irish businesses. 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 the frequency and size of individual claims, and ensure speed and efficiency in processing genuine cases."

Amongst the recommendations made in the report, which directly address items raised in the IHF submission and during its oral hearing with the Joint Committee, are:

• The speedy establishment of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) and its remit to include public liability claims within six months of its establishment,
• The acknowledgment of the lack of competition in the Irish insurance market,
• A proposed examination of legal and professional fees, which are currently unnecessarily high drivers of costs and are under-pinning increases in claims costs,
• A proposed expert group to recommend the level of awards that would be appropriate to Ireland having considered the level of similar awards in other European countries,
• That judges should receive specialist training in relation to insurance issues and should refer to a Book of Quantum as a reference resource in deciding the level of awards,
• That there should be transparency in how insurance premiums are calculated and that policy holders should see clear evidence of the benefit of being claim free.

"In recent weeks some IHF members have witnessed, for the first time in three years, evidence of a slight reduction in their insurance premiums. However, this is only a drop in the ocean in the overall objectives of reducing insurance costs to the level applicable in other European countries. It is hoped that a speedy implementation of all the recommendations in this report will result in quickly attaining the same in Ireland," concludes John Power.

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