Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber and thank him for the work he has done in his Department over almost the past two years. The Fine Gael Party will not oppose this legislation. I commend Senator Mullen on the work he has done on this Bill. It seems strange that these provisions are not already in place. It seems to make perfect sense that if information is to be given it must be factual and that there is something in place to deter the very small number of people who would give misleading information. The Bill, as Senator Mullen said, concerns people who knowingly give misleading information, and that is the key point. People might argue how one can distinguish between people who knowingly do so, people who recklessly do so and people who mistakenly do so, but that is there to be adjudicated and decided on afterwards. What is important is that there needs to be a deterrent in place for people who may do this. This is essentially about protecting people who make legitimate claims or cases. This impacts absolutely everyone. There is not a household in this country that does not understand the rise in insurance costs, and there is not a business in this country that does not understand the challenges of rising insurance costs. This Bill might not play a major part but will play some part in this. This area of law needs to be tackled and changed.

I welcome the fact that Senator Mullen said he is open to working with both sides of the House on this to make sure an agreement can be found on this to bring the Bill through. Insurance in general has been a real challenge over recent years. We all remember about two years ago, I think, when a large number of outdoor sporting facilities had to close down because they could not get insurance. Anyone who works in bars and restaurants will say there is, I think, only one insurance company to which they can go to get insurance. A great many people have small bars and pubs in rural Ireland, including in places in Tipperary, where I live, and choose not to have insurance on those premises. One prays to God that nothing happens in those pubs because, if it does, they will not reopen if the matter goes to court and they do not have insurance. Essentially, however, they cannot afford it. A great many pub owners are in that situation. We need to bring in measures to rectify these things. As a Government, we need to bring in measures to make sure that the simple thing of being able to get affordable insurance for businesses is possible.

I spoke recently to someone who runs a childcare facility. There are massive demands on childcare from a range of areas, including rates and other costs, and insurance plays a huge part in that. The demand from people who need childcare has not increased dramatically, but childcare providers are in a very difficult situation in that they cannot increase the price paid by individuals because there is a cap on that price. That is right because individuals find it very expensive to pay for childcare in the first place. As for the new measures that will be brought forward for September, they do not even know what they are at the moment. There are huge costs to this, the industry is in serious trouble and people are leaving the industry on the back of it.

This discussion is welcome, however, and I am interested to hear other Members' comments. We should be able to find common ground on simple things such as this. They have an impact. As I said at the start of my contribution, I was surprised to find that these provisions are not already in place.In fairness to the Government, this is one of 66 actions that it will bring forward over its lifetime and, in fairness to the Minister of State, he has taken serious action on this already. That has to be acknowledged. I hope we can tackle the issue of insurance and the associated challenges as a whole and that we can find common ground on this, which is really a simple Bill to bring forward, and come to some sort of an agreement-----