Government asked to examine soaring motor insurance costs
The Government will this week face pressure to set up a taskforce to examine the soaring costs of motor insurance as consumers continue to be hit with huge hikes in their premiums, .
Fianna Fáil will bring a private members’ motion in the Dáil this week highlighting the inordinate rises in motor insurance being faced by drivers.
The party will highlight how consumers have been faced with an increase of over 60% in the cost of their motor insurance since January 2014, with a 34 % increase in the last year alone.
The Dáil will hear calls for special taskforce to be set up along the lines of the former Motor Insurance Advisory Board which led to a fall in insurance costs in previous years.
The Seanad is also scheduled to sit for the first time tomorrow and its 60 members will vote for its chairman.
The first point of business will be the election of a cathaoirleach in the Seanad, with Fianna Fáil’s Denis O’Donovan tipped for the role.
Fine Gael has 19 senators while Fianna Fáil has 14 and Sinn Féin has seven. Labour has five seats in the upper house while there are also two groups of independent university senators.
However, it is expected once the new chairman is agreed that the chamber will adjourn for a whole week before its next order of business.
There is also expected to be another vote for the position of Leas Ceann Comhairle in the Dáil after a vote last week failed to elected a winner.
Fianna Fáil’s Pat ‘The Cope’ Gallagher and Fine Gael’s Bernard Durkan are the two frontrunners for the position, which pays €35,000 on top of a TD’s basic salary of €87,000.
However, Independent TD Mattie McGrath, also vying for the role, said at the weekend he would consider backing the minority government if Fine Gael supports him for the Dáil vice chairman role.
His vote for the Government would help it, especially if another Independent TD at some stage chose to pull their support.
