John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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49. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the current progress of the promised legislation on duty of care in relation to occupier’s liability; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [51941/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Insurance reform is a key priority for this Government and is reflected in the Programme for Government, the Government’s Action Plan for Insurance Reform, and in my Justice Plan 2022.

This is a whole-of-Government effort. My Department has responsibility or part responsibility for 34 of the 66 actions contained in the Action Plan, 26 of which are now complete, including the introduction of the Personal Injuries Guidelines, the enactment of the Criminal Justice (Perjury and Related Offences) Act 2021 and the establishment of the Insurance Fraud Coordination Office, which was opened by An Garda Síochána in July 2021.

In May of this year, I received Government approval to reform duty of care legislation, which is a key insurance reform measure and an important part of the Government’s Action Plan.

I am proposing to amend a number of sections of the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1995, in line with the Government policy objective of restricting the liability of occupiers. I believe these proposals strike the right balance between ensuring that businesses, community groups and organisers of events fulfil their duty of care responsibilities, while also acknowledging the importance of personal responsibility of visitors, recreational users and trespassers.

The proposed amendments, which build on a Review Paper prepared by my Department in February 2021, and subsequently published, contain four key developments:

- they will reflect in primary legislation a number of recent court decisions which rebalance the duty of care owed by occupiers to visitors and recreational users;

- they change the standard to clarify that when the occupier of a property has acted with reckless disregard for a recreational user or trespasser, the standard of reckless disregard rather than that of reasonable grounds should apply in relation to any consideration of liability;

- they limit the circumstances in which a court can impose liability on the occupier of a premises where a person has entered onto premises for the purpose of committing an offence; and

- they allow for a broader circumstances where it can be shown that a visitor or recreational user has voluntarily assumed a risk.

The amendments will be brought before the House as Committee Stage Amendments to the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2022, which completed second stage in the Dáil yesterday.