Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Our economy and communities will be unable to bounce back sustainably from the pandemic unless all sectors and businesses of all sizes can resume activity in a stable and supportive environment. The insurance crisis is having an impact on that. If you talk to businesses, you hear that time and again.

Reform is moving at a snail’s pace. The personal injuries guidelines adopted last year saw personal injuries awards fall by 50% within three months of taking effect, yet we all know that insurers are not passing on those types of savings to customers. I urge the Government to support my Judicial Council (Amendment) Bill, which would monitor insurance companies and pressure them to pass on savings.

Rebalancing the duty of care is crucial to bringing greater certainty and underwriting capacity in the insurance market. Given that the Minister stated insurance reform is a key priority and that there is a whole-of-government approach, I was shocked that she has not only missed her own two self-imposed deadlines but has also not included the legislation to reform duty-of-care arrangements, by way of amending the Occupiers’ Liability Act, in the spring legislative programme. What are the causes of the delay? Does the Government have a new deadline that it might try to meet this time?

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