Community facilities, businesses, crèches, leisure centres, hotels, pubs, marts, you name it, are all under extraordinary pressure because of the rising costs of insurance. Many of us in this House have met a range of groups across the country that feel their enterprises are endangered by the dramatically escalating insurance costs and premiums. Many businesses are under significant threat. There are quite a number of fraudulent cases, which are a significant factor in the rising costs of insurance and in the culture of claiming at any cost.

The Irish Independent, in a recent undercover investigation, has also reported that some GPs and solicitors are contributing to this culture of fraudulent and exaggerated claims by amending and holding back vital information in terms of medical reports and some sort of interaction between elements within both professions. In that context, it is fair to say that the Government's response to date, going back over the past three years and the various commissions that have been established, has been one of considerable inertia, with delay after delay and a lack of urgency in grappling with the essentials of this crisis.

I welcome the intention of the Government to support Senator Pádraig Ó Céidigh's Perjury and Related Offences Bill 2018, which has been supported by my colleague, Deputy Troy, and the Fianna Fáil Party from the outset. We will help to fast-track this through the Dáil. I also point out to the Taoiseach that as far back as October 2018, former Deputy, Billy Kelleher, tabled legislation, the Civil Liability and Courts (Amendment) Bill, which would have mandated the courts to refer claims and actions which they dismissed as fraudulent to the Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP, so that fraudsters would face the full rigours of the law. We have been waiting and waiting for a response from the Minister for Justice and Equality about that legislation. The Minister is nodding. I have letters about it. Eight months ago, he indicated that he would deal with this within a month and it has not been dealt with. Deputy Michael McGrath also introduced legislation that would again have increased penalties for those making fraudulent claims. It would have added to the strength of our deterrence to people who would take such claims, especially since they would be obliged to pay the legal costs of a fraudulent claim. At the moment, the holder of the insurance policy or the establishment or the enterprise has to bear the full brunt of the legal costs in many of these cases. Deputy Michael McGrath's Bill is still on Committee Stage. I welcome the fast-tracking of Senator Ó Céidigh's Bill but, equally, I put it to the Taoiseach that former Deputy, Billy Kelleher's, Bill should have been fast-tracked a long time ago, as should Deputy McGrath's.

It is more than 12 months since the completion of the final report of the Personal Injuries Commission. Incredibly, it showed that the level of damages for soft tissue injuries in Ireland is four and a half times higher than that of our nearest neighbours in England and Wales. Will the Government commit to fast-tracking former Deputy, Billy Kelleher's, legislation and Deputy Michael McGrath's legislation, which would have an impact on those making fraudulent insurance claims? When will the Government establish a publicly funded anti-fraud unit in An Garda Síochána?

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue, which all in this House know is a significant concern for the business sector, sports clubs, crèches and community halls, all of which are facing the cost of rising insurance premiums. We and everyone involved in the sector, including insurance companies, the Judiciary and others, need to recognise that increasing insurance costs have a consequence. They can cause businesses to close and people to lose their jobs. None of us wants this to happen. We have made good progress in recent years on the broader area of insurance. We have seen motor insurance fall from its peak in 2016 by maybe 20% or 30%. Health insurance, which had been rising rapidly every year, has now levelled off for the past few years, and the same goes for home insurance. When it comes to public liability, we have much work yet to do. I join the Deputy in complimenting the Irish Independent on the investigation it carried out into the nexus that exists between some elements of the legal and medical professions when it comes to exaggerating and altering claims. That was a very timely investigation and it is something that we all need to pay a lot of attention to because, unfortunately, there is a profit motive there. Elements of both professions make a lot of money out of these claims.

With regard to Government action, as the Deputy acknowledged, we are pressing ahead with the Perjury and Related Offences Bill, which is being piloted by Senator Ó Céidigh and others. That will strengthen our perjury laws regarding those who make fraudulent and exaggerated claims.

In addition, the judicial council will set up a committee, led by judges, to examine the quantum of personal injury claims. Those judges are independent and it is important to allow them to do their work independently. As the Deputy pointed out, the payouts for personal injuries in Ireland are four and five times what they are in other jurisdictions. As we all know, in around 90% of cases, people no longer need to attend treatment for their whiplash once they receive a payment. It seems the cure for whiplash in Ireland is a compensation payment rather than any medical treatment.

Deputy Pearse Doherty has also brought forward legislation to address this issue, for which the Cabinet approved two amendments this morning. We will bring that Bill through and it will result in greater transparency around insurance costs. Senator Ó Céidigh's Bill on perjury and Deputy Pearse Doherty's Bill on transparency are progressing, and most importantly, the judicial council is setting up its independent committee to review the quantum of awards paid to people who suffer injuries in Ireland. If the awards payments go down, we expect the insurance industry, which notwithstanding everything else is very profitable in Ireland, to respond with lower premiums.

I will have to come back to the Deputy about the Bills proposed by Deputy Michael McGrath and former Deputy Billy Kelleher. I will take a look at them and come back to the Deputy during the week on whether they can be progressed and find out why they have not been.

My understanding is that the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan, was supposed to come back to us on that eight months ago. Former Deputy Billy Kelleher wrote to him about this matter. I got the Minister's response. It might have been eight months ago when he said he would respond within a month.

There are no data available on public liability insurance claims. Many of the Personal Injuries Commission's recommendations have yet to be implemented. The Taoiseach spoke of health insurance costs levelling off. There is a terrible air of detachment to that comment because most people are frightened and desperate because of the level of health insurance prices. Health insurance has a huge impact on people's incomes. The Taoiseach's statement that costs are levelling off would not resonate with elderly people, who cling to their health insurance, in particular. The cost of motor insurance has also increased by 32% since 2014. The Taoiseach should ask young drivers, returning emigrants, or even older drivers about this matter as they have huge issues with it.

The real issue here is the delay. The Taoiseach mentioned the Judicial Council Bill. How long has it been since that was recommended? This is a crisis. I do not believe there is a timeline for the judicial council to report back, but I ask the Taoiseach to indicate what it might be. We meet various interest groups which are paying insurance, and they are desperate about this. Take Killinarden community centre, for example. It may have to close some facilities because it simply cannot afford the 30% hike in premium it is facing.

The Taoiseach to respond.

It is happening all over the country. This is going on year after year and the Government's response is both delayed and seemingly ineffective.

The Judicial Council Bill only recently became law. Legislation only becomes law after it is passed by the Oireachtas and signed by the President.

That is because the Government would not bring it into the Seanad.

We fast-tracked it.

While it only became law in the last few weeks, it is now possible for the Chief Justice to establish the aforementioned committee.

The Taoiseach only brought the Bill to the Seanad to make the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross, happy.

The Taoiseach, without interruption.

The Chief Justice is now establishing that committee. As the Deputy knows, the Judiciary guards its independence fiercely, and is right to do so. It is not for this House to set a timeline for its work. However, I will ask for the work to be carried out as expeditiously as possible. Perhaps the chairman of the committee, or the Chief Justice himself, can inform us as to what timeline they think they can meet.

In terms of the Garda response, it was recommended that a dedicated bureau be established to deal specifically with the issue of insurance fraud. That is the Garda Commissioner's decision, and in his wisdom, he has decided that rather than setting up a dedicated national bureau which would deal only with insurance fraud, this issue would be best addressed at divisional and local levels and through the national economic crime bureau. I agree with his decision. The matter is being dealt with-----

It is not.

-----in the way the Garda Commissioner thinks best.

He is only issuing guidance. It is not being done.