Results 721-740 of 34,585 for speaker:Seán Fleming

Seanad: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (7 Dec 2022)

Seán Fleming: The zoning is the straightforward bit. It is the vote of the local authority in relation to zoned land. On services, I am having the matter clarified. I assume it is based on the definition in the Finance Act 2021. I will give the Senator a commitment to make that information available. It is actually services already covered in legislation. I assume that covers water services as one of...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (7 Dec 2022)

Seán Fleming: I thank the Senator and I have listened carefully to what she said. As was indicated, addressing vacancy and maximising the use of the existing housing stock is a priority objective for this Government and for everybody with an interest in the housing situation. In Housing for All, the Government has set out a suite of incentives available to encourage the reuse of properties and increase...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (7 Dec 2022)

Seán Fleming: As well as opposing section 99, the Senator and her colleagues in this House are, in recommendation No. 27, calling for a report to be prepared on the impact of the levy within six months of the passing of the Act. The Minister has previously stated it is intended that the revenue from this new levy will contribute towards offsetting the significant costs arising from the comprehensive...

Seanad: Credit Union (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (6 Dec 2022)

Seán Fleming: I am pleased to be in Seanad Éireann to present the Credit Union (Amendment) Bill 2022. In accordance with Standing Order No. 149(2)(i), I confirm that the reason pre-legislative scrutiny did not take place under Seanad Standing Order No. 143 is to meet a programme for Government commitment to review the policy framework for credit unions. Credit unions are the most trusted brand in...

Seanad: Credit Union (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (6 Dec 2022)

Seán Fleming: I thank all of the Senators who have contributed to the debate. It is very clear that everybody who spoke has a deep personal knowledge of and connection with the credit union movement through their own local credit unions. We accept that, in itself, this Bill will not solve all of the issues in the credit union movement, many of which are issues that will have to be sorted out by the...

Drugs Policy: Motion [Private Members] (30 Nov 2022)

Seán Fleming: I thank Deputies for their contributions to this debate on drugs policy and acknowledge their interest in and commitment to the issue. In particular, I thank the Labour Party for providing time for the debate. The Government is fully committed to a health-led approach to the drugs issue and believes that people with problematic drug and alcohol use issues should be treated with...

Committee on Public Petitions: Consideration of Public Petition on Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2022)

Seán Fleming: I thank the Chairman and members for the opportunity to address the committee. This is my first time doing so. I am pleased to be here. I thank the committee for the opportunity to address it today. The specific question of insurance for thatched roof properties is linked to the condition of the wider insurance market in Ireland. For years the Irish market has suffered a series of...

Committee on Public Petitions: Consideration of Public Petition on Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2022)

Seán Fleming: The action plan on insurance reform is a whole-of-government approach, led by the Tánaiste, and involves a number of Government Departments. We have been talking specifically about a report by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage that is coming out in the near future, which will help us on the insurance side. In recent weeks, we published the third implementation...

Committee on Public Petitions: Consideration of Public Petition on Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2022)

Seán Fleming: I will answer that in this way. We have all seen reports in the media in recent years about fraudulent cases. Up to now, there has been little or no successful prosecution in cases of fraud in insurance because it was not a criminal offence. The Government brought in legislation to make perjury a criminal offence for the first time ever. It is only very recently that the Garda have the...

Committee on Public Petitions: Consideration of Public Petition on Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2022)

Seán Fleming: My understanding on the ombudsman situation is that it is a regulated business and a complaint can go to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman, FSPO, from any consumer. The FSPO handles all financial services. It is a separate issue, but 28,000 people are employed in the insurance sector in Ireland, so it is quite a big industry. There are still some gaps and pinch points with...

Committee on Public Petitions: Consideration of Public Petition on Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2022)

Seán Fleming: I am very pleased. The Deputy is the first person to say that to me. I encourage her to say it out loud again outside of today's meeting. The Central Bank concentrated on house and home insurance because bigger figures are involved. I see exactly where the Deputy is going on this. While I cannot tell the Central Bank what to do, it is no harm that this is now said about insurance in...

Committee on Public Petitions: Consideration of Public Petition on Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2022)

Seán Fleming: Nobody knows the answer to that question. I am honest enough to say that. We understand that approximately 800 houses have insurance recurring on a year-to-year basis. The issue is about those which do not have insurance or where a property changes hands and the new owner cannot get insurance. The owner will get a renewal if there is no change in ownership but the issue, as we speak, is...

Committee on Public Petitions: Consideration of Public Petition on Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2022)

Seán Fleming: No. I know there is a scheme in the UK. Since it is a bigger market of more than 50 million people, it has a bigger reinsurance market. When a company issues an insurance policy, it sells on the risk to another company that reinsures it. As Ireland is such a small market, it does not have the same reinsurance market as that in the UK that would allow the risk to be spread across other...

Committee on Public Petitions: Consideration of Public Petition on Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2022)

Seán Fleming: We have had this in the childcare sector. The fee is not significant. There is a set of guidelines to reduce fire risk in the childcare sector. What happens in the group schemes that have worked in other areas is that, through an association or group, there is an inspection of each property to ensure it has the measures in place. Such an inspection may take place once a year, and it is...

Committee on Public Petitions: Consideration of Public Petition on Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2022)

Seán Fleming: The only commitment I can give is that when we see that report, our offices will speak directly to Insurance Ireland, which is the representative body for all the insurance companies. That is an absolute commitment. As soon as we have the report, we will speak to Insurance Ireland, which represents practically all the insurance companies operating in the State. That will be our immediate...

Committee on Public Petitions: Consideration of Public Petition on Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2022)

Seán Fleming: We have covered all the topics. I thank the committee for the invitation to appear. This is my first time before the committee. I did not know much about it previously. I am pleased to see it in action. Deputy Higgins referred to the cross-departmental nature of the committee. That is good for the Oireachtas. Most committees are line Department committees that have one area of focus,...

Committee on Public Petitions: Consideration of Public Petition on Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2022)

Seán Fleming: I thank the Deputy for raising the question. I will give him a straight answer. The only form of insurance where there is a legal requirement to have insurance in Ireland is motor insurance. There is no legal requirement for anyone to insure a house, business or anything else, but there is a legal requirement in respect of motor insurance. As it is a legal requirement for the industry...

Committee on Public Petitions: Consideration of Public Petition on Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2022)

Seán Fleming: I acknowledge the role of the Thatch Property Insurance Action Group, which is very important. In regard to the insurance industry, different sectors have come to us, whether the equine centres, the play centres, the bouncy castle centres or the leisure and amenities sector, all of which had difficulties getting insurance individually. However, when they came together and put a group scheme...

Committee on Public Petitions: Consideration of Public Petition on Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2022)

Seán Fleming: The biggest element of that is the personal accident injury guidelines, where people who have a slip, trip or fall hurt their back or neck. Up to now, awards were given under the old regime before the new Government came in and the new guidelines were set by the Judiciary, at the Government's request. The Government did not write the new reduced award levels, and neither did the industry or...

Committee on Public Petitions: Consideration of Public Petition on Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2022)

Seán Fleming: I will make two points on that. First, the CSO produces regular information, some on a monthly and some on a quarterly basis. It will be self-evident, independently of the Government. Second, the Central Bank produces information on claims in a number of sectors in a claims database. It has been doing so once a year. We have requested that from the start of next year, it produces some of...