Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Insurance reform is a key priority for this Government and for me. It is reflected in the programme for Government, the Government’s Action Plan for Insurance Reform, and in my own justice plan for 2022. This is a whole-of-government effort.

My Department has responsibility or part responsibility for 34 of the 66 actions contained in the action plan, or approximately half. We have 26 that are now complete, including the introduction of the personal injuries guidelines, the enactment of the Criminal Justice (Perjury and Related Offences) Act 2021 and, significantly, the establishment of the Insurance Fraud Coordination Office, which was opened by An Garda Síochána last July. I appreciate that I would have liked to have brought forward the amendments to the Occupier's Liability Act prior to 17 May, when the heads of the Bill were published, but that is not to say that a huge amount of work has not been done within my own Department. I acknowledge the work done by officials.

Last week, I received Government approval to reform duty of care legislation. I propose to amend a number of sections of the Occupiers’ Liability Act, in line with the Government policy objective. I believe these proposals strike the right balance between ensuring that businesses, community groups and organisers of events fulfil their duty of care responsibilities, but making sure there was personal responsibility put back on individuals, customers and members of the public as well. The amendments contain four key developments: first, inserting into primary law a number of recent court decisions that rebalance the duty of care owed by occupiers to visitors and recreational users; second, changing the standard to clarify that when the occupier of a property has acted with reckless disregard for a visitor or customer, it is the standard of reckless disregard rather than reasonable grounds that should apply in any consideration of liability; third, limiting the circumstances in which a court can impose liability on the occupier of a premises where a person has entered onto a premises for the purpose of committing an offence, which is unfortunately something we have seen in recent years; and, fourth, allowing for a broader range of scenarios where it can be shown that a visitor or customer has voluntarily assumed a risk resulting in harm. What is important here is that this applies to parents as well when they are bringing children into a playground or areas where there is a potential risk.

In terms of the timeframe, we brought forward the amendments and set out the heads of the Bill last week. The intention is that it would be part of the upcoming Court and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2022, which I hope to publish this side of the summer.

See this speech in context