Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak to the Bill. We are putting this legislation forward to address the serious issue of escalating insurance costs. In the past 14 months Fianna Fáil has brought forward two Private Members' motions, for the debates on both of which the Visitors Gallery was packed. One was on play centres, while the other was related to the business insurance reform group and moved in March 2018. Both groups who packed the Visitors Gallery were here to send a message to the House and the Government that the escalating cost of insurance was no longer acceptable. Fianna Fáil has cited many instances of increased costs. Last week on the Order of Business I referred to a farmer whose insurance costs had previously increased from €3,000 to €8,000 and whose cheapest quote this year was €24,000. That farmer is looking to the Government to tackle the insurance cost issues. There are insurance cost related issues and challenges across every aspect of Irish life, whether for motorists, small businesses, restaurants, public houses, farms and, as evidenced recently, marts. The care sector is also affected, including the childcare sector.

In Charleville in north Cork, insurance for St. Joseph's Foundation increased from €150,000 to more than €500,000. The foundation is dependent on a one-off grant from the HSE and fundraising to address these costs. These are real challenges facing people across our communities when looking for insurance, yet the Government is not tackling them head on.

This Bill attempts to address fraudulent claims. There have been countless amounts of evidence, commentary, articles and inches of editorial space on the cost of insurance. This is about the person paying the premium. Last week, there was a lengthy debate on this matter. Insurance companies are making significant profits off the backs of ordinary citizens. We must address the raft of issues. For example, why has a Garda unit on insurance fraud not been established? There is no panacea for reducing premiums to competitive levels in any sector, but why is it that, in spite of any legislation that has been proposed by us, and we have tried to progress numerous Bills, the Government has not decided to tackle this massive crisis head on? There have been many Government debates on, for example, external financing issues, but this is an issue that the Government could take on. It could try to ensure that the ordinary citizens of the Republic get fair premiums.

Evidence from CCTV cameras can only be stored for a certain amount of time, yet people can make claims two years after an incident. That is not acceptable and has to be challenged. Many businesses have readily told us that they are going without insurance. That is a damning indictment of the Government's inaction. I appeal to the Minister to take this legislation seriously, enact it and ensure that every idea we have proposed and every challenge we have put to the Government is accepted in an attempt to reduce these escalating costs for ordinary citizens.

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