Lord Empey (UUP)

My Lords, taking up the last point from the noble Lord, Lord Weir, the Prime Minister, on his recent visits and tour of the UK, has emphasised that the primary focus of the Government is to help people with the cost of living. Because our population in Northern Ireland is spread out more than it is in Great Britain, there is much heavier reliance on motor vehicles to get around. This has a huge impact not only on farmers but on people who are resident in rural areas. At one point a number of years ago, as Minister for Enterprise, I had responsibility for consumer protection. I have no recollection that financial matters of this nature were incorporated in the devolution settlement, so I believe that the Treasury has a key role to play. It seems odd that we in Northern Ireland have a sector that is unregulated. It is the only part of the United Kingdom where it is unregulated. People need to grasp that there is a different legal framework for dealing with claims for damages under insurance. For instance, the noble Baroness, Lady Hoey, referred to a list of settlements that should be reached, whereas we have a thing called the green book, which allows for much greater flexibility and has resulted in much higher claims. The noble Baroness quoted one example, for soft tissue injury, but that is only one. It does spread out, and of course that is not the only potential claim. There could be other mental health claims arising from the situation. So the Minister should perhaps reflect on this. If he is not content with this amendment, cautious though it might be, he could table something at Third Reading.