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

This is a priority for me. There are 66 actions contained in the action plan on insurance reform. Thirty-four of these are the responsibility of my Department. The specific change required is probably one of the last key changes required. The Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2022 was introduced last night and I will be continuing my speech on it in the next hour or two. I will be introducing an amendment to the civil liability legislation on Committee Stage. There are a number of aspects. We will reflect in primary legislation several recent court decisions that rebalance the duty of care owed by occupiers to visitors and recreational users. There will be a change to the standard to clarify that when the occupier of a property has acted with reckless disregard for a recreational user or trespasser, the standard of reckless disregard, rather than that of reasonable grounds, should apply in regard to any consideration of liability. Amendments will limit the circumstances in which a court can impose liability on the occupier of a premises where a person has entered it for the purpose of committing an offence. They will also allow for broader circumstances where it can be shown that a visitor or recreational user has voluntarily assumed a risk.

Basically, we are rebalancing to make sure there is some level of personal responsibility if a person walks into a venue or the premises of a community group or organisation whose owner has gone to reasonable grounds to secure it and make sure it is safe for people. The payouts we are seeing and the issues in the courts need to be addressed. I really hope the legislation introduced in the House yesterday will do this. We will try to have it passed through its various Stages as quickly as possible. I hope that, in time, it will have a significant impact on the overall cost of insurance.

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