Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am happy to bring forward this motion along with my colleagues in the Rural Independent Group. I wish to reiterate all the points they have been raised.

I am greatly frustrated that nobody is listening - the Minister of State is not here now either. Since I was elected to Dáil Éireann, the issue of insurance has been brought up repeatedly, but absolutely nothing has been done about it by the Government or anyone in this Dáil. I hope that the Rural Independent Group's motion on insurance will speed up a practical resolution for people.

As late as last Sunday, I met a young female motorist in Bandon, who was starting off her driving career. She told me her insurance will cost her €4,400 and asked me what we, as politicians, were doing to stop this daylight robbery. As she cannot afford the €4,400 in one go, she is paying €1,300 in a lump sum initially and €385 per month thereafter. Everything she is earning is going into her car, which leaves this young woman despondent. This, however, is a story that I know all too well as my son, Michael, started off his driving career last year and I was also hit with a bill for €4,000.

This leads me to ask who is in charge of the country. Is it the motor insurance providers, the Government or the legal eagles? Are insurance premiums raging through the roof because many of our legal professionals are politicians and do not want to tackle this issue as the compensation that is being paid out in courts here is far greater than in any other country?

Even though we are discussing motor insurance tonight, insurance costs for businesses are also having detrimental effects. A few weeks ago Rural Independent Group Members met representatives of the hotel industry whose insurance bills are totally out of control. Some of them told us their premiums increased from €80,000 to €200,000 in one year. Nightclub premiums have increased from €10,000 to €30,000. This will cause the closure of many nightclubs, pubs and hotels all over the country.

There needs to be a major clampdown on bogus claims in this country, with serious fines or jail terms considered for these fraudsters.

As our motion highlights, returning emigrants have difficulty obtaining insurance as driving experience in foreign countries such as the United States of America, Canada and Australia is not taken into consideration. It goes further than this however, as I found out in my constituency clinic in Eileen's Bar in Kilcrohane last Friday night when I met an Irish-American man, Bob Meller.

Bob told me about what I call the real céad míle fáilte he got upon returning to Ireland. Bob was able to drive all over America. He bought a home in a beautiful part of Kilcrohane in west Cork and found out that he had to sit his theory test and go through the whole process of learning to drive again as if he was a 17 year old starting off. Bob is like many other Irish-Americans who have returned home and settled in their community, in his case in Kilcrohane.

How can any Minister consider going out to America on 17 March, pat the President of America on the back, tell him how great Ireland is, share our Irish heritage and meet and greet many Irish, and then have these same Irish-Americans return home to be faced with such obstacles? It is nothing short of a hypocritical disgrace.

Many older people in my constituency of Cork South-West have vehicles that are ten years old or older, but have a valid National Car Test certificate. Despite this they are still unable to obtain insurance cover, leaving them isolated in their homes. To make matters worse, just today - we seem to be picking on old people in this country - the Government encouraged those same older people who are stranded in their homes to turn on their heating 24-7 during the current cold spell. Is the Government that out of touch that it thinks people all over the country can afford to cover the costs of coal, oil and other fuel 24 hours a day? As it is, some of our older people could die from hypothermia with the small allowance that they obtain from the Government. On a separate note, I think we should double the fuel allowance for this week given the weather forecast.

We need to do something to stop these insurance companies running riot. Many of us live in rural areas where public transport is not freely available. Our young people want to drive and we, as a nation, must do all in our power to allow them to do so and not leave them stranded as we have today.

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