Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I would but that would be a matter for the particular people involved to come together. I was at a meeting immediately before I came here with a group who are working with a small group of people who are trying to get insurance for a bouncy castle type of industry group. The insurance company that was providing the cover was a UK company and was governed by UK standards with respect to the annual testing of the equipment. Those standards did not apply in Ireland. People thought they had insurance cover only to find their claim was not accepted, and when somebody checked the small print for them, they found their claim did not apply. Such a company would not have cover if it made a claim because it would not meet the UK standards of inspection. Clear issues arise.

That group raised with me exactly the point the Senator has made, namely, to see if something could be done across the sector. Some of those involved are voluntary and community groups as well as some very small businesses that might have one employee or be a self-employed person. The issue of the community groups was raised. I asked about the Tidy Towns groups and where they get their insurance. The 500 or 600 Tidy Town groups around the country generally make their own individual arrangements. If there is a federation operating at a county level for Tidy Town federations or community groups through the public participation networks, PPNs, in the local authorities, I would see a great opportunity for somebody to work on a collective basis bringing groups together engaged in similar activities to get a group insurance policy in place. That would not be something the Department of Finance could do on behalf of those groups. We would encourage people to do that themselves.