Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)

I remember as a councillor - Gerry Adams was still the TD for Louth - we met with Michael D'Arcy in relation to public liability insurance and a particular issue we had. I will give him one thing: at the time he said that this was not taken seriously enough at Cabinet level and, even beyond that, even when determinations were made, that you could not trust the insurance companies. The duty of care in legislation has all been carried through. We know some of it will take a period to bed in, but the fact is that until the Government operates the sort of legislation we are talking about here, until their feet are held to the fire, insurance companies are not going to care and they are going to absolutely screw people over. There is no other term you can use.

In the short time I have, I will just deal with an issue in relation to an unexplained increase in the cost of a house insurance premium due for renewal next month. It relates to a home in Dundalk with a €636,000 rebuild sum and contents cover of €51,500. There were no claims on the policy, which was a standard one. The renewal documents an approximate 28% increase on last year. The family paid over €1,000 the year before, but when they changed mortgage provider, the company increased the premium by around €300. When they contacted the brokers, they were offered €1,815.41, and then 10% extra if they paid in instalments. That is a huge increase. When the family said the quote was nearly 30% higher, they were straightaway offered €1,500 to renew, citing a discount. When they asked what the discount was for, the broker said that when the clients rang to query the premium, the insurance company had just authorised the broker to lower it to €1,500. It is what we would expect going on: two-tier price-gouging. Last year's renewal was €1,369, which included the €300 added when the mortgage providers were changed.

On 26 May 2025, a taxi was hijacked in Dundalk. It was a 131 Škoda, worth around €11,000. It was written off by the insurance company for €4,750, but it took out €984 for recovery storage and €1,000 for excess. The man got €2,766.

I do not even have time to deal with travel insurance.

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