Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom comghairdeas a ghabháil don Aire Stáit. Tá fáilte roimhe ar ais san áit seo. I welcome the Minister of State back. He was always a very engaging Minister and always did his best to meet with Deputies from the Opposition and everywhere else. I wish him luck. I advise him to avoid the golf classics. I only say that in jest. I know he was there for a perfectly good reason, to pay tribute to his late colleague and his late father's good colleague, the late Mark Killilea.

I welcome the legislation. We need insurance reform. We are changing the name of PIAB to the Personal Injuries Resolutions Board. Resolution of all conflicts is very important. As a businessman myself and as somebody involved in so many community projects, I know the ravaging that insurance is doing.

If we end up now, which we probably will, with more companies leaving the market, as with the banking situation, we will be in more trouble because there will be monopolies. I hope the changes here help. I know the number of people who have used the previous board is quite high. It has been a way of getting resolution outside of the court system. The last place anyone wants to go to resolve anything is trasna na h-abhainn, or across the river, and end up with the wigged gentlemen - I nearly said the hooded gentlemen - who are one of the other arms of the State. It can be a costly and a disquieting experience. I have been there a few times. It is a place where every word costs a lot of money and sometimes you get nowhere. However, you have a fine bill at the end of the experience.

I refer to insurance reform. I am dealing with the Minister of State’s colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Fleming, on the thatched houses. We are trying to preserve our heritage. I know I am straying a small bit, but with the Acting Chair’s permission, I will talk about heritage houses that are protected. There is one particular one in the village of Bhaile Uí Lúbaigh in Cathair Dún Iascaigh in Tipperary. J. Keating’s pub is a lovely pub but it is now dúnta. It cannot get insurance to insure it as a dwelling. It was always a combined dwelling and pub. It was before the petitions committee last week, but I was unable to attend. This needs to be sorted out. It is a beautiful, protected and thatched structure. It is in the middle of the road opposite the church. It is a lovely setting. The people cannot get insurance for it but they are living in it. That should not be happening in any functioning society.

There are countless community events that are not happening this year. Many of them have succumbed to not being able to get insurance or not being able to afford it if they got it. Is mór an trua é sin. That is terrible. Communities that want to give their time voluntarily and run events safely with health safety standards in place cannot get insurance. Even if they can get it, they cannot afford it. That is simply not a satisfactory situation.

There is also the cost of insurance to employers and business people – employers liability, public liability, you name it, and motor insurance. We are talking about reforms. In this case, this is a welcome reform. However, will it have teeth? That is the problem here. We have new a board and a new name, as Gaeilge freisin. However, will it have teeth? Many of these boards love to have the head office, the plaque on the wall, the fancy furniture and seats, the CEOs and everything else. However, a lot does not happen. Perhaps I am too critical of PIAB because it has done something. However, resolution is important. It is important that we have mediation and resolution.

Regarding bogus claims, in An Caisleán Nua, my own village, we put up a playground. I was actually chair of the committee. It fell into disrepair and was closed. My daughter, Councillor Máirín McGrath, got involved in a new committee. Thosaigh sé arís. They started it up great guns. Next thing there were two claims, with adults falling out of basket swings. There was a case in Dublin but there was alcohol involved. However, this was during the day and there were signs up stating they were for children under 12. They then got solicitors and barristers to take the cases. In fairness, the cases were laughed out of court but lo and behold, the cases are now being heard in the Court of Appeal. We are waiting on a judgment. Everyone knows what it costs to go to the Court of Appeal. I do not know who these people are. Are they sugar daddies or is it no foal, no fee? However, it is despicable. It is despicable that community groups who want to put facilities in place for the children of the parish and surrounding parishes cannot do so. They provide great joy and engagement but then you will have people who want to make hay from it.

The main part of the defence in the appeal was that when the former Prime Minister, now imithe, Boris Johnson, was mayor of London, he was actually in one of these swings and was pushing a member of the royal family. I do not know which of the princes it was. It was for the Special Olympics in London back deich mbliana ó shin - ten years ago or more. The case was made that if it was fit for the prince and Boris Johnson, then it was suitable for adults in the village of Caisleán Nua na Siúire in Tiobrad Árann theas under the shadow of the Knockmealdown Mountains. However, it was for an ad for the Special Olympics.

The solicitors and barristers who took that case should be ashamed of themselves, as far as I am concerned. I know you have a right to the court and to justice, but this is farcical in the extreme. We want to encourage communities. Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí. Mol na daoine sin agus tiocfaidh. That is what we need in our communities. However, we have these kind of false, fake and fraudulent claims. They just cause this quiet unease. If this case is lost, it will probably be the council which picks up the tab. That is taxpayers' money. The playground will probably be closed forever if we do not get the right decision from the Court of Appeal, if you do not mind. It is a pretty new court in Dublin.

With those few words, I rest my case. I thank the Acting Chair for allowing me in the first round because I was to be in the second round.

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