Results 12,841-12,860 of 35,767 for speaker:Pearse Doherty

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Pearse Doherty: If the issue was as big as they say in all of their advertising, which is that it is costing everybody €50 extra on their premiums, then there would be thousands of claims reported. I have no doubt there are more than 50 fraudulent claims in the system. However, the reality is that these companies are price gouging. If we deal with fraudulent claims, if we enable the Garda...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Pearse Doherty: I agree with the objective. To take a hypothetical situation, if we pass the Judicial Council Bill and if we set up the council - there are a number of ifs - we may reach a position where that panel recommends, for example, that soft tissue injuries, such as whiplash, would be cut by half, given these make up the majority of claims in the first instance. However, the industry is not...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Pearse Doherty: Only data on claims will be analysed.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Pearse Doherty: We are able to quantify and publish the cost of the average comprehensive or third-party insurance policy and whether that was reducing or increasing. There is no reason the Central Bank should have stopped this. There is an absence of that data and we need it immediately.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Pearse Doherty: Is the Minister of State saying that will be produced in the third quarter of this year?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Pearse Doherty: Will public liability not be a part of it?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Pearse Doherty: When will public liability be a part of it?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Pearse Doherty: I want to reiterate that the commitment of the insurance industry for reductions in premiums in line with reforms we will introduce is the key issue.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Pearse Doherty: The Minister of State indicated that he has asked. I am not questioning that and I do not want to go into that space. When I stated earlier that the Minister of State had been let down, I was not talking about his Government colleagues, I was talking about his parliamentary colleagues. We need a commitment from the industry, as was given in 2002, that reforms will result in reductions in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Pearse Doherty: I have a final comment. I would have questions if this body was capping the level of awards. I take the Minister of State's point and agree that there are thousands of people who make legitimate claims. Mr. Charlie Weston has brought attention to this issues around exaggerated and fraudulent claims and he should be commended for that but there is a danger that people think everyone is a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Pearse Doherty: Many people who would have legitimate claims do not make them because they will lose their no-claims bonus so they pay the garage to fix their car themselves. Others do not make claims because they think it would bring bad luck, or whatever it is. That is the way it is. Why would we reduce the level of awards so a private company could benefit from that if we were not satisfied that then...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Pearse Doherty: We are still dealing with high mortgage interest costs in the State. When the banks were not willing to move, one of the threats was that if they did not move, the capital reserves they had to hold would be increased, which would have put them at a disadvantage. This was a threat - a bata mór or a big stick - to try to get them to move on the matter. Is the Department considering...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Rockall Island Ownership (12 Jun 2019)

Pearse Doherty: There are two issues. This needs to be resolved quickly because it is impacting fishermen now. God forbid, as we heard from the Scottish Minister that they will enforce the procedures. This means boarding a vessel, directing it to port, the powers to arrest individuals and to place sanctions such as impounding the vessel including its gear and the fish on board. That is how drastic this...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Rockall Island Ownership (12 Jun 2019)

Pearse Doherty: This issue needs to be resolved. It has been with the UN for ten years.

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Rockall Island Ownership (12 Jun 2019)

Pearse Doherty: The UN cannot adjudicate on that because Iceland will not allow it to do so. We need the UN to come in and be able to adjudicate on this-----

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Rockall Island Ownership (12 Jun 2019)

Pearse Doherty: -----and to deal with this for once and for all because Brexit will cause a major problem for fishermen much wider than Rockall.

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Rockall Island Ownership (12 Jun 2019)

Pearse Doherty: I echo the points made about no relevant Minister or Minister of State being here to deal with this important issue because it affects fishermen right here, right now. Some fishermen have decided not to take the risk of fishing the waters off Rockall, which they have always done. These actions are putting their livelihoods and income streams at jeopardy. Other fishermen have decided to...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): Departmental Operations (12 Jun 2019)

Pearse Doherty: Our party has long advocated that those who espouse the view that Ireland should be united need to come together and start to plan that process. We have done that in many different guises over the years. More than a decade ago we tabled a motion in the House relating to the preparation of a Green Paper on Irish unity. Our former leader, Deputy Gerry Adams, and I have engaged with all the...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (12 Jun 2019)

Pearse Doherty: Yesterday, the supplementary Scally report issued. I commend Dr. Scally on the work he is doing under very difficult circumstances. A number of sections jump out in the report, not least the chapter relating to the procurement of laboratory services. The report raises a number of serious questions, including why the HSE reduced the weighting for quality assurance and capacity and increased...

Death of Former Members: Expressions of Sympathy (12 Jun 2019)

Pearse Doherty: Ar mo shon féin agus ar son Sinn Féin, ba mhaith liom comhbhrón a dhéanamh le clanna na n-iarTheachtaí Richie Ryan agus John Browne. On my behalf and that of Sinn Féin, I extend sincere sympathies and condolences to the families and loved ones of former Deputies Richie Ryan and John Browne, both of whom passed away in March this year. I did not know Mr. Ryan...