14 July 2022 – This week, Insurance Ireland submitted its Pre-Budget Submission for 2023. In a year in which we have seen significant strides taken in progressing the Government’s Action Plan for Insurance Reform, like the Cabinet approval to amend the laws surrounding the Duty of Care in Ireland and a Bill to enhance the powers of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board, it is important not to lose sight of other important changes needed in the sector.

Insurance Ireland is proposing the prioritisation of the following five policy measures, which we believe will support economic recovery as we continue to chart our way beyond the Covid-19 pandemic and navigate through the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and associated increases in the cost of living and economic pressures. The measures proposed by Insurance Ireland will:                                                                  

• Improve competitiveness of the insurance market

• Ensure calculation of Effective Tax Rate (ETR) as part of the OECD International Taxation Agreement takes into account differences that would otherwise create anomalies in the calculation income and that taxation is taken into account in the ETR calculation of the unitholder

• Create a transparent and sustainable pensions environment, with a simplified landscape for supplementary pensions and a clear strategy for Auto-enrolment which supports the work to mitigate the Gender Pension Gap

• Equalise the taxation treatment of financial products and including a financial incentive for ESG investments (Environmental, Social and Governance) – Deposit Interest Retention Tax (DIRT) and Life Assurance Exit Tax LAET)

• Create the infrastructure for Ireland as a global hub for sustainable investments and insurance

Commenting on the submission, Insurance Ireland CEO, Moyagh Murdock said, “the five policy measures complement the government’s strategy for a sustainable transition of our economy, but adjustments are necessary to ensure that Irish citizens can fully embrace these efforts.”

With a particular focus on the introduction of the Auto-enrolment pension scheme, Murdock added “it will increase pension cover to cohorts of the Irish population who traditionally would not have had ready access to pension cover, however, the devil is in the detail and more efforts are necessary to also include part-time workers in lower income groups to also benefit from the scheme.”

In the submission, Insurance Ireland calls on Government to ensure that the Design Principles of the Auto-enrolment scheme ensure fair treatment of carers, part-time and low-income earners, which are predominantly women, and makes more of an effort to mitigate the gender pension gap. It also urges the Government to review the broad role being attributed to the Central Processing Agency and consider if there are alternatives available to achieve the same outcome more efficiently.

Insurance Ireland further calls on Government to create the infrastructure for Ireland as a global hub for sustainable investments and insurance, so that the insurance sector can effectively play its part in tackling climate change. Last year, Government published a Sustainable Finance Roadmap with clear actions. We will need comprehensive strategies that help our industry to adapt.

Insurance Ireland Pre-Budget Submission 2023

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