Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will be sharing time with Deputy Munster.

As the motor insurance business affects thousands of people's lives, how the State regulates it is very important. The State in some aspects is not acting to protect people. I wish to highlight the effect on rural dwellers and low-income workers who need a car for work. Last week I attended a briefing on insurance by the motor industry. We were presented with the shocking reality of people being refused insurance despite having a valid NCT certificate. I get complaints about that in my constituency office every week from people who cannot get insurance simply because their cars are more than ten years old. This is being used by the motor insurance industry to either not give a quote or give astronomical quotations. It is putting people under huge pressure to buy new cars or putting people off the road completely. It disproportionately affects rural dwellers and low-income workers who need a car for work.

More than 77,000 cars more than ten years old were scrapped in 2017, an increase of 49% on 2016. From an environmental and financial point of view, this represents a loss to the Exchequer. It accelerates the devaluation of cars, particularly cars more than ten years old. It increases CO2 emissions because the CO2 emissions created by manufacturing a new car is equal to what is pumped out of the exhaust pipe of a car over 160,000 km, as shown by a recent report. That needs to be factored in. It causes a reduction in rural mobility and particularly causes problems for the people who need their cars for work, the people who the Taoiseach says get up early in the morning and whom we need to look after.

There is no logic in this. These cars have passed their NCT every year. There is also evidence to show that older cars are not on the roads as much. Someone with a car that is 12 or 13 years old is not doing 50,000 km like some of us are doing. I always drove an old car until I was elected to this House and then I discovered that an old car would not stick the going so I had to get a new car. My point is that older vehicles are not on the road as much.

Once a car has passed its NCT, that is it; it is in good condition. The NCT is very thorough and very professionally done. There is no reason to take these cars off the road. In Australia it is common for cars 20 years old to be driven around and the same is true in parts of Europe. Therefore it cannot continue. While we support the Bill, I am using this opportunity to highlight the issue to the Minister of State. I want the Government to do something about it. This is in the interests of motorists. We talk about protecting rural Ireland; this is in the interests of rural Ireland.

I do not advocate having bangers driving around that are not fit to be on the road. I am advocating a bit of common sense here. At the moment the insurance companies are picking the pockets of low-income workers and those people living in country areas who need their cars to get to places such as Portlaoise, Tullamore, Edenderry or elsewhere in the morning. That is exactly what is happening and we need to stop it. I want the Government to give serious consideration to this and to put a stop to it.

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