Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister said local authorities might take out insurance. Will she clarify how that will stop somebody suing the landowner, as well as the local authority which has got the insurance cover?

The idea of the indemnity scheme was to indemnify people against being sued. There is very little chance of a successful claim for somebody coming to harm on a hill through no fault of the farmer. The person would have to show reckless disregard according to the law. There are cases, as the Minister knows, in Wicklow and up in Donegal that have gone to the Supreme Court, which has ruled against the plaintiff and in favour of the defendant. One was a State defendant. The chance of a successful claim on a hill because of something that might happen is very small.

The problem was not that someone would succeed. The problem was that somebody might take a case and that a farmer would be part of a court case and have to put a lot of resources into fighting another case that would fail. Will the Minister assure me that whatever she is proposing will deal with the specific problem, which is not the cost of getting insurance, which was never a problem because most farmers have insurance, but how to stop farmers being enjoined in a case and having to go through all the rigmarole of defending a case that would never succeed?

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