Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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12. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will provide an update on the status of his plans to address the rising cost of and limited access to public liability insurance; the detail of his recent engagements with an organisation (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30058/22]

Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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This is not the first time we have spoken about public liability insurance. We all know it is a disaster. Many companies and organisations cannot get public liability insurance at all or if they are offered such insurance, the premium is terrible. What engagement has the Minister of State had with the industry on this? We all know that we need certain things to happen, some of which are in the gift of the Minister for Justice in the context of duty of care. We need to see action and we need to see prices coming down.

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Ó Murchú for raising this issue, which we have discussed previously. I appreciate and acknowledge his interest in this area. He is concerned to help various groups that are affected by limited access to public liability insurance. The Government recognises the concerns felt by many groups regarding the cost and availability of insurance and has prioritised insurance reform. As the Deputy is aware, we have an action plan for insurance reform and 80% of the actions under that plan have been done at governmental level. Some of the other actions will require implementation through the courts and are related to legislation we have recently passed. The judicial guidelines have been challenged and test cases have gone to court. I understand that one case was dealt with in recent weeks which upheld the guidelines. Some of the insurance companies wanted to see the outcome of those test cases. That will now give a level of certainty. Settlements were being held back while the outcome of those cases was awaited. A lot of people were not happy with the reduced rewards under the guidelines. Their solicitors advised them that they would have secured awards that were double in size last year and that the guidelines could reduce the possible payout by 40%. Many people have held off accepting awards until the guidelines were tested in court. We are making good progress on that and I am confident the Judiciary will stand by its own guidelines.

The other issue is duty of care legislation, which was cleared by the Government recently. I expect that legislation to go through the Oireachtas this year. That will be very important, as will the reform of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board, PIAB, to give the board a role in mediation. Until now, the board made a recommendation and told claimants they could take it or leave it. The Government's view is that if PIAB is given a conciliation role, it could negotiate an agreement between the two sides. We hope the relevant legislation can also be completed this year.

Finally, some new players are entering the market and these new insurance companies are beginning to help in some of the areas that had difficulties.

Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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I appreciate some of the work that is being done. In fairness, this issue was thrown to the Minister of State when the area was already a disaster. We are dealing with issues now that should have been dealt with years ago. I am delighted to hear that more players are coming into the market and would be grateful if the Minister of State could provide an update on that. If it is not possible for him to do so in public, perhaps we could have a private conversation later.

The duty of care legislation is an absolute necessity. I have spoken previously about a community centre in Blackrock in Dundalk that was quoted a premium of between €10,000 and €11,000, which is absolutely mad. My local residents' association was quoted €3,200 because it has responsibility for a field in the middle of a housing estate. This is absolutely mad stuff and we really need to bring it to an end.

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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In certain cases, local authorities may not want to get involved but sometimes they can be pushed. This is especially true for semi-public areas but whether they can be taken in charge by local authorities is a separate issue.

Regarding new insurance businesses in Ireland, I joined IDA Ireland at a conference last Tuesday in Amsterdam at which the agency was meeting potential new clients. I also met a large American insurance company this week. I will not put its name on the record of the House today but it has started business in Ireland in recent weeks. It has taken some of the play activities under its wing and is now writing insurance in that area. It will provide cover for organisations when their next annual premium is due. I am not sure what month of the year that will be but the company is already in the market.

The main issue is that once we get the judicial guidelines settled by the courts and the duty of care legislation passed, people will know where they stand. The insurance companies say that the one thing they cannot cope with is uncertainty and there has been a lot of uncertainty in the insurance market until now. IDA Ireland is saying that now that there is some certainty in the Irish market, it can sell Ireland internationally and can invite insurance companies in whereas two years ago, it could not have done so. It can now actively try to attract more companies into the country and while that can be a long process, all of the signals are good. We want to see a reduction in premiums.

Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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That is the best news I have heard in relation to public liability insurance but the Government must make sure it happens. I have spoken previously about insurance for those in the entertainment sector. At this point in time, none of the companies that offer bouncy castles for hire has insurance and that needs to be rectified.

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I have been directly involved in encouraging the insurance industry to provide cover to certain sectors. The equine industry had a problem last year but we got that sorted out last spring. I was told last Christmas that there was no insurance available for ice rinks but two rinks succeeded in getting insurance. The situation with regard to play and activity groups is that a new American company has set up in Ireland in recent weeks and is moving into that market. The company has already met the national body for those groups and has, through a broker, offered policies from their next renewal date.

The Central Bank will issue a report next week on public liability and employers' liability. I do not know what is in the report but it will be very beneficial. We will have a discussion on that next week.