The Transport Minister says he will not be intervening to bring down the cost of motor insurance.

The cost of insuring a car has jumped by one fifth in the past year alone.

Research from the AA says although the cost of fuel has gone down, motorists are not seeing the benefit because insurance has gone up.

Minister Paschal Donohoe says the best his department can do to tackle spiraling costs, is to make roads safer.

He says efforts are also underway to ensure insurance firms have access to drivers penalty points, with aim of providing customers with policies "that reflect how safe they are on the road."

"The other initiative that we also have underway at the moment is to look at independently sharing penalty point information with insurance companies," Mr Donohoe said. "And by doing that making sure they have the information to accurately and failry charge people insurance policies that reflect how safe they are on the road."