Linda Nelson Murray
Industrial and Commercial Panel · Fine Gael · Ireland
“Navan hospital always needs to be strengthened, not sidelined. We need investment in that to grow with the population that is growing in Meath, and that Meath people have a hospital that grows with their needs and does not fall behind. I am discussing this with the Minister for Health, Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill.”
“The Irish Cancer Society is in the news today. We met its representatives last week and had a very good engagement over in Buswells Hotel where they were giving us some numbers. I wanted to home in on bowel cancer. There are 2,500 people diagnosed with bowel cancer each year in Ireland.”
“We have had amazing debates in here from all sides of the Chamber. Everybody, without a shadow of a doubt, is a pleasure to work with. We can achieve things together whether we are in opposition or in government. I thank everybody. It is really nice to come in to the Chamber and I look forward to it every Tuesday.”
“I thank everybody in that group, particularly the Senators in this Chamber who worked on the group, because it is a day to be acknowledged. Hopefully, we will see it come through quickly. I want to follow on from that by asking the Leader to speak to the Minister, Deputy Calleary, who is working very hard on a baby loss register.”
“Senator Nicole Ryan and I, with other Senators, including Senators Patricia Stephenson, Tom Clonan and Evanne Ní Chuilinn, and many TDs - it was a complete cross-party Oireachtas group - came together and have been working on how to actually do this over the last year. Today is a very positive day for all of us in our group.”
“It was about a year ago that we had a very emotive debate in the House when Senator Nicole Ryan brought suggestions for a Bill on miscarriage leave. I was on this side of the House. It was very hard to actually be debating it when I think everybody in this House wanted to see something like that happen.”
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“There is one area I did not understand, however, until I began to work with the school, namely transport to and from it, the work done by bus escorts in most special schools and the difficulties associated with this. I will go into my idea for managing the system of bus escorts further as I have done before during my time here. My first focus is the timing of the social welfare payment. The escorts leave for the Easter holidays because they are not paid throughout the year and it can take five or six weeks to receive a social welfare payment. When they leave at Christmas, it takes the same amount of time. They leave in June, and it can be August by the time they get paid. I very much appreciate that there have been pay rises in the sector staggered over the past number of months, which is great.”
“I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan, for coming to the House to discuss this Commencement matter. I would like to discuss the issue of bus escorts and transport for special schools. When the Minister of State and I spoke at the Joint Committee on Education and Youth on 16 July last year, he gave me a commitment that he would look into this. I look forward to getting an update from him. I am on the board of an amazing special school in Navan, County Meath. It was a big eye opener to see the work of all the staff in the school. If one is ever near the school between 8.30 a.m. and 9 a.m., one will find it is an absolute hive of activity.”
“Enfield has a rail line and many bus services but it needs to develop a local-level plan to bring it into 2026. The community is so frustrated. As the Leader will appreciate, it was very excited to be able to work on the plan years ago. It has coped with an increase in population, and that population likely to reach over 5,000. For nothing to have started is devastating for the community. The scheme does so much for communities. We have seen this in other towns across Ireland. I ask the relevant Minister, Deputy Calleary, what there is to back up the initial town centre first funding so towns can actually make themselves bespoke and ready for the future.”
“I want to speak about a village in my area, namely, Enfield, County Meath. It has a population of over 4,000 people. Before Christmas, I met a representative of the Enfield community development group to discuss its sheer irritation at the fact that, four years after Enfield was identified as one of the towns nationally to be awarded funding to develop a town centre first plan, none of the projects has begun because of a lack of funding or will. A town team, comprising representatives from all over the community of Enfield, came together and developed ideas for the town. The objective of the Government's scheme is to create town centres that function as viable, vibrant and attractive locations in which to live, work and visit while also functioning as services, social, cultural and recreational hubs for the local communities.”
“I also note in Ireland we are at about 10% but a lot of the companies that are using it at the moment are testing the waters and seeing in what aspect of their business they would use it. I really thank the Minister of State for her time here today. I really look forward to all of the vital work I have no doubt she will do in this space.”
“The AI revolution offers additional capability to businesses, including the scope to free up staff to focus on higher value work. AI is also creating demand for new and better jobs. To date, AI has not impacted the overall staffing needs of the vast majority of SMEs - which we do not want, obviously. However, the biggest risk to Ireland's economy and Irish jobs would be Ireland's failure to adapt, adopt and keep up with international competitors who are embracing AI. I note that Nordic countries like Denmark, Finland and Sweden lead in Europe for corporate AI adoption. In 2025, over 42% of Danish enterprises used AI, followed closely by Finland and Sweden. I welcome the new AI office that will be opened in August 2026.”
“There are also broader concerns about the rise of misleading or harmful AI in media and politics, from deepfakes to disinformation campaigns that threaten the integrity of public debate and trust in our institutions. The current debate on AI must also not lose sight of the opportunities to business, which was rightly mentioned, particularly for Irish SMEs. For Irish firms and their workers, AI presents a significant opportunity to enhance productivity, unlock new capabilities and generate real value. AI offers massive potential to SMEs to cost effectively level-up to larger competitors. Strategies and tools once reserved for big businesses are now accessible to smaller firms. We had great conversations today in the enterprise committee about how we can support small businesses and Enterprise Ireland was there.”
“Maybe we need a fast paced court specifically for prosecuting anything harmful online when it comes to children. I was glad to see the chatbot site, character.ai , cutting off teenagers from having conversations with virtual characters after facing intense criticism over the kinds of interactions young people were having with online companions. The platform, founded in 2021, is used by millions to talk to chatbots powered by AI but it is facing massive lawsuits, including one over the death of a teenager, with some branding it a clear and present danger. The platform has taken action and now, under-18s will only be able to generate content such as videos with their characters rather than talk to them like they used to able to do.”
“It was also revealed that 25,000 referrals of potential sex abuse images were made to the Garda last year. Social media companies have been around for two decades. They are not new in our lives. They must be held accountable in a court of law. This is the only way to send out a message to them. I will give an example of something else. We have all seen in the past few days the news about a fraudulent insurance claim made by a guy ten years ago who was sentenced to three years in jail. He was only sentenced last Friday. It took ten years to do that. When cases come on social media, it is such a fast moving, fast paced environment, we cannot wait that long. We have the Special Criminal Court for organised crime, which is fantastic.”
“Experts urged countries like ours to explicitly criminalise, investigate, and appropriately sanction and bring to justice perpetrators of all forms of online child sexual abuse or exploitation committed through or with the support of AI systems, tools and platforms. That leads me to the press release by our colleague, Deputy Brennan, with the headline describing the revelation that "not a single prosecution has been taken against a social media company for child abuse." The Oireachtas media committee was informed there has not been a single successful prosecution against any of the major tech firms for the manufacture and dissemination of child abuse image. A senior member of An Garda Síochána cyber crime bureau that day told the committee no case had been taken any social media company.”
“On Sunday, the UN urged governments to implement more effective online regulations to address children's increased exposure to AI-generated content, which were signed by many companies and groups across the world. Experts recounted the ways in which bad actors target children using AI and digital technology, noting that predators can use AI to analyse a child's online behaviour, emotional state and interests to tailor their grooming strategy. AI has also facilitated sexual extortion by enabling offenders to generate explicit fake images of real children. In an October 2025 study, Childlight - Global Child Safety Institute found a 1,325% increase in harmful AI-generated online abuse material.”
“I am mam to a ten-year-old and 11-year-old girl, just like the Minister of State is a mam to a young girl, and I absolutely dread the online AI world that they are growing up in. There is no time to waste on this. I know the Minister of State gets it, but as the strong Cavan woman she is, she really needs to push for the work on this now. The online safety matters that have come so much to the fore in recent weeks have highlighted the importance of having an effective legal and regulatory framework to deal with issues around deepfakes and consent. The controversy surrounding an AI feature that is integrated into a social media platform has been a troubling development, as we have all witnessed over the last few weeks. This has rightly led to public uproar.”
“I thank the Minister of State for attending. In recent weeks, we have confronted some stark warnings about where unchecked AI can harm society. It has brought into focus both the immense promise and real challenges that AI presents to us. I attended a presentation in the audiovisual room yesterday and I am not the better for it. I listened to what young girls and young boys are exposed to about what they should expect when they become sexually active with each other, how girls are arriving in emergency departments with choking injuries and private area injuries at the age of 15, how one young man killed himself after chatting to his AI friend which mentioned suicide to him six times, and about the types of women people can create to be their AI girlfriend.”
“We are now in 2026 and we do not have a permanent playground for the children of Kilmessan. My own children aged ten and 11 use it regularly. I urge the Leader to write to those Ministers and ask what can be done now. It cannot wait a month; it has to be done now for the people of Kilmessan.”
“There is nowhere for children to do different types of exercise or classes and now our only community facility, the playground, is about to go. I believe it is about to go very soon because it will be sold. I am urgently asking the Minister for children and the Minister for rural community affairs to look at this as a matter of urgency. The 2007-13 county development plan mentioned making provision for appropriate community childcare and educational facilities, encouraging the provision of passive and active recreation spaces to serve the needs of the village, and encouraging the intensification of business and community uses in the village centre. The 2021-27 county development plan recommends the development of a permanent playground. We have been talking about this since 2007.”
“This morning I want to speak about the village of Kilmessan in my home county of Meath. It certainly feels like Kilmessan is being left behind at the moment. In 1996, Kilmessan had a population of 230 people. I imagine the next census will show that it now has a population of well over 1,200 people. For the last nine years, in Kilmessan we have been very fortunate that a private landowner has allowed the community to put a playground on a site in the centre of the village. As is their right, they have now decided to sell it. There are zero community facilities in Kilmessan. I mean there is no community centre. There is nowhere for the choir to go. Many times they have had to practice in one of the local pubs.”
“What happened to this councillor is no more than hateful bile. It is up to the Ministers for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration and Education and Youth and all of us to find realistic and practical ways to deal with these issues. Do we in society continue to blame newcomers for all the problems? Do we attack them, call them names and spit in their faces? I definitely cannot get this out of my head. I cannot imagine someone spitting in my face. I cannot imagine someone spitting in any woman's face or man's face. It is seriously the lowest of the low. I ask the Chair to ask the Ministers I have mentioned to debate how we prevent this from happening again and what the consequences are to the person who did this to Councillor Yemi Adenuga.”
“She works here yet was horrendously racially assaulted on the streets of her hometown and my hometown, Navan. Where in society is this behaviour ever acceptable? Are we back to when posters and windows read, "No blacks; no Irish; no dogs"? Are some people really that discriminatory? Sadly, the answer is "Yes". This is not about what one feels about people coming in or out of our country or our migration policies. This is about the common decency we need to show everyone we meet, no matter what their skin colour is or where they are from. People are genuinely afraid, both native Irish and migrants. People fear what they do not know and are wary of. We need strong political will to determine sustainable solutions to dealing with these rising incidents across every county in Ireland.”
“I wish to pass on my sincere condolences to the family of Brian Crowley. Last Friday night, I was at sitting at home. I opened Instagram and saw a fellow politician online shaking and in tears. This person is a county councillor elected democratically by the people of the town of Navan, not once but twice. On Friday evening, on her way back to her car, this councillor by approached by someone asking her to confirm that she was a county councillor. Upon replying, a tirade of abuse began: "You are not welcome; go back to where you came from; you are not Irish". These are all very hurtful comments. To finish this off, this man drew his breath, drew saliva and spat at her. Councillor Yemi Adenuga is over 25 years in Ireland. Her children were born here.”
“This heavy daily influx to Dublin causes significant traffic, with Meath residents experiencing some of Ireland's longest commutes. This morning, there was another crash on the M3 and I had to divert around the country to get here to work. How is it even remotely fair that Navan and Meath get €500,000 for bus enhancements when, with no disrespect to any other county in Ireland, counties like Longford or Laois get the exact same? We need an increase. The National Transport Authority gets a certain allocation - I understand it is around €13.5 million per year - for bus stops. We get the same as every other county, which makes no sense. We are the county with the highest rate of commuting, in particular, from the town of Navan to Dublin. Commuters leave for work every day. We need more bus stops and more than €500,000 in funding.”
“I might use my time on a future date to speak about how unbelievably dangerous the Borallion is and how much we need it to be updated as soon as possible. I had a major car crash there, which was horrendous. Other projects include the Flowerhill pedestrian and cycle scheme and funding for the safe routes to school scheme for St. Stephen's National School in Navan and Beaufort. Some €500,000 was provided for bus enhancements, which is really good. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, for this. However, I want to focus on the bus enhancement scheme and bus stops. Meath is the only county where most workers commute out of it for work, predominantly to Dublin. As the county town, Navan is a major driver of this trend, with many residents commuting to Dublin despite its lack of rail access.”
“On Monday, we learned that €360 million was allocated for active travel and greenways across Ireland for 2026, which is incredible. This investment is dedicated to the development of walking and cycling projects that offer safe, sustainable and healthy transport options to communities around the country. The investment also delivers safer connections for pedestrians and cyclists. It means more of us can choose active and sustainable travel for everyday journeys. Thanks to the Department of Transport, the continued high level of funding for active travel will have a real impact on our communities, cities, towns and villages. Meath secured €10 million in funding for projects like the cycle and walking route along the Dublin Road, linking the Circular Road with Martha's Bridge. More money was allocated for the Trim Road to the Borallion.”
“I would welcome being able to look at the report. We still have SMEs saying it is too difficult to enter the public procurement tendering process especially for Government contracts but I am happy we are working on this. I look forward to it being a lot easier for businesses to tender in the near future.”
“I thank the Minister of State. I welcome that there has been a first national public procurement strategy. I note the Department launched an extensive consultation exercise last year. I am interested to know where that report is; I have not seen it. I know it will form part of the strategy going forward but I would like to have a look at that report. Will the Minister of State supply me with information from that afterwards? To reiterate, for businesses, the tendering process is complex and bureaucratic. It has high administrative costs - preparing a compliant tender can be costly and require legal, financial and technical input. For SMEs, these upfront costs can be a deterrent - the scale and turnover requirements, insurance requirements and over-emphasis on price - sometimes the cheapest is not the best.”
“SMEs are having to collaborate to apply for a tender. How is that fair? This is a can of worms that is only going to get bigger. I look forward to the Minister of State's response.”
“The irony is that they are now actually supplying Government projects, but as a subcontractor because the bigger firms have won the tenders. Another business owner had the exact same experience, where they were trying to get into a Government contract, were not successful but are now subcontracting. The main contractors get paid within 15 to 30 days but subcontractors have to wait 60 to 90 days to be paid. If they cannot win some of these bigger contracts, how are they going to buy the machinery and products to enable them to go for other contracts in the future? The expertise in smaller, growing firms can sometimes be greater than in larger firms. Larger firms also have extra costs in managers, project managers and advisers. Smaller firms do not have these costs and can be very competitive.”
“There needs to be different levels of tendering that are more accessible to different sized companies. Another business owner told me that in the early days of their business they tried to tender as a consortium for some work with Enterprise Ireland. Their partners in another European country saw the insurance requirements and said that that type of insurance cover simply did not exist in their country. This morning I spoke to a friend who is in the furniture business. I asked how they were getting on with tendering for Government contracts and was told that they spent ten years applying for tenders but not only did they not win any, they did not even get an inquiry or anything to encourage them to keep going. They said it was such a disheartening process.”
“Another told me that the employer liability and public liability insurance requirements eliminate SMEs and microenterprises. The business owner suggested that those values are boilerplate requirements and suspected they are copied and pasted from tender to tender without question. Another business owner said that they had been there, done the tenders but had effectively given up on public procurement in Ireland and the UK. Similarly, another business owner referred to expected turnovers of €250,000 and expected levels of insurance that were too high and argued that businesses would not be looking for new tenders if they were turning over more than €250,000. Plenty of projects for tender are highly suited to small and more agile SMEs. Projects could be completed on time and to better standards, thus saving money.”
“A supplier needs employer's liability insurance of €13 million, public liability insurance of €6.5 million, product liability insurance of €6.5 million, motor insurance of €1.3 million, crime insurance of €100,000 on any one claim, and cyber insurance of €1 million. That is for a €50,000 contract. How are companies supposed to have that level of cover and pay those extortionate insurance costs to be able to get into the tender process? I am going to let some small Irish business owners speak for themselves. One business told me they had this exact problem during the summer. They put the effort in to win a particularly good and large tender but were then forced to accept terms and conditions that were written for a very large business, not a small one.”
“The second is confirmation that the tendering party's turnover exceeded over €200,000 for the last three years. That would probably cut a lot of businesses out of being able to do anything. The third is confirmation that the following insurance is in place: employer's liability of €13 million and public liability of €6.5 million. There are plenty of small businesses that could not afford that type of insurance and that do not have a turnover of €200,000. They are probably dying to grow their businesses by being able to get some of these contracts but they cannot do so. I am doing a lot of work at the moment on the hot school meals programme. I had a look at the insurance conditions in the supplier tenders.”
“I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House and congratulate him on his new role. It is great to have the Minister of State here to debate this matter. I would like to explore the difficulties smaller firms have in putting themselves forward in the tendering process, particularly for Government projects. In a rapidly changing world, the real technical, strategic and innovative expertise is often in smaller companies and we are missing a trick here. The Government should be able to benefit from that expertise. I am going to use a recent example of a tender for a €60,000 contract in my own county of Meath and outline the criteria involved. The first requirement is confirmation of tax compliance, which is fair enough. We all need to be tax compliant.”
“Most importantly, shopping locally means personal service, trust and pride, knowing the people behind the counter and supporting those who support us every day. Your fingers do not need the exercise, but your hips and your belly might, so put down your tablet, walk around your town or village, meet the shopkeepers, have a mulled wine in your local bar and a mince pie in your café. Enjoy and happy Christmas.”
“I sit on the enterprise committee. We spend a lot of time debating the increased cost of doing business and the pressures a lot of businesses are under. As today is 18 December and there are still six shopping days left, I ask people to visit their local businesses and shop local. When they do, they keep more money in their local economy, celebrate the uniqueness of their community, support local jobs, encourage community and invest in entrepreneurship. Shopping locally is about more than convenience; it is about community. When we choose to spend our money in local shops, cafés and businesses, we are investing directly in towns and villages. Local businesses create jobs, support families and keep our high streets alive. Money spent locally stays local, helping to fund sports clubs, charities and community events.”
“You can become an apprentice through SOLAS at the age of 16, which is great, but you cannot become an apprentice in the Army or Air Corps until you are 18. You cannot join An Garda Síochána until 18. You cannot claim an employment benefit, such as jobsseekers' allowance, until you are 18. You cannot drive a car or drink, smoke, vape or gamble until you are 18. There is a reason for all of this. As workers gain experience, complete training and reach adulthood, their pay increases accordingly and that is the right thing to do. Equality does not mean treating everyone identically; it means recognising difference fairly. Paying a 19-year-old more than a 16-year-old within the minimum wage framework reflects the realities of retail floors, hotel kitchens, farms and leisure facilities across the country.”
“In many cases, if you have a 16- or 17-year-old starting on the lower rate of 70% of the minimum wage, by the time they are 20, and if they are a really good worker, they will be on substantially more than the minimum wage because, as a sensible employer, you do not want to let that person go. Gone are the days when employers can take advantage of workers as we have implemented so many policies to protect them. In Ireland we have the second-highest minimum wage in Europe. When it comes to apprentices, the Government's position is right. If we introduced higher minimum wages for apprentices, it would prevent many tradespeople from taking on apprentices. Apprentices come into a business to learn a life skill and become a specialist in their field, but only after they have completed their apprenticeship.”
“As they progress, they move to reception, help to prepare food, analyse figures, generate ideas for promotions, roster other staff and open and close the business. Across all these sectors, employers invest significant time and resources in training young workers. Subminimum youth rates help offset those costs while keeping entry level jobs available. Without that flexibility, many businesses, particularly small local employers, would simply higher fewer younger people. Crucially, this system is about progression, not permanent inequality. Youth rates are designed to be temporary.”
“In the agriculture sector, younger workers often engage in seasonal or part-time roles that are carefully structured around school communities. Older workers are more likely to operate machinery, work longer days and take responsibility for animal welfare, health and safety, compliance and independent decision-making - duties that rightly attract higher pay. In the leisure and tourism sectors, 19- and 20-year-olds are more likely to be entrusted with customer safety, cash management, lone-working and emergency procedures in gyms, cinemas, amusement centres and visitor attractions. These are roles that require maturity, availability and accountability. In our business, someone who comes in at 16 will generally help with parties, become party hosts, supervise children playing and work on the floor.”
“Workers aged 16 or 17 are classed as young persons. This does not mean I do not think young people should work. In fact, it is quite the opposite. They should work and be rewarded for doing so. I started work at 13 and I have not stopped. It is important that young people go out to work and support themselves, learn the value of money and progress to earn more. In the hospitality sector, the distinction is even clearer. Hotels, cafes and restaurants rely on staff who can work late nights, weekends and peak seasonal hours. A 20-year-old can legally serve alcohol, work unsocial hours and take on greater responsibility during high-pressure service periods; a 16- or 17-year-old cannot. Paying both the same ignores these operational realities.”
“A 20-year-old working in retail is far more likely to work full shifts, handle cash independently, manage stock, open and close stores and supervise younger staff during busy trading periods. While absolutely capable and willing, 16-year-olds are often legally restricted in the numbers of hours they can work and the types of duties they can carry out. They also require closer supervision. When my daughter reaches the age of 16 or 17, there is no way I will allow her to be left alone to open or close a shop. However, I would back her all the way to do it when she turns 19 or 20. In Ireland, under the Child Care Act 1991, the Children Act 2001 and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, a child is defined as anyone under the age of 18. What a child is allowed to do is restricted by their age.”
“However, that 16-year-old who has just started simply cannot do the work of the 19-year-old who has perhaps been with us or another business for over a year. This debate is about recognising genuine differences in responsibilities, experience and contributions - differences that are especially clear in the agriculture, leisure, retail and hospitality sectors. For example, there are 326,000 people directly employed in retail. Employment in retail and wholesale declined by 17,200 in the year to quarter 4 of 2024. Employment in the retail sector specifically declined by 7,100. Retail businesses are under pressure. Each retail closure costs the State €6.2 million annually.”
“From 2020 to 2026, the minimum wage will have increased by 44%, which is a great thing. Over the same period, consumer prices increased by just 19.8%. Ireland has the second-highest minimum wage rate in Europe, after Luxembourg. This debate is not about the worth of youth workers. As a business owner who has been hiring workers of all ages, it is an absolute privilege to hire young people. Why? It is because you see that nervous first-time worker blossom. The worker’s mam or dad generally hands in the CV. They are dropped in and picked up from work. They do a few hours on a Saturday and Sunday and, month-by-month, you see them thrive in their role and want to take on more responsibility. It is fantastic.”
“I congratulate Senator Cosgrove and her colleagues on bringing this Bill forward. They have put a lot into it and fair play to them. Unfortunately, I am opposing this Bill, but I think Senator Cosgrove is a great person. Well done to her. In Ireland, the minimum wage framework reflects the realities of our labour market, particularly in sectors such as retail, hospitality, agriculture and leisure where young people often take their steps into employment. There are different rates of pay, as has been mentioned, from €9.45 for under-18s, up to €13.50 and then €14.15. For a 20-year-old working 40 hours a week, that equates to €28,000 at the moment and from January it will be €29,000. To put this wage in perspective, a nurse who graduates out of college will earn €30,000. Should a 16-, 17- or 18-year-old earn that?”
“I would welcome a debate on procurement processes for SMEs and how we can how we can encourage acceptance of smaller businesses into tenders.”
“Another business wrote: Same experience here in the past. Expected turnovers of 250k for example. Expected level of insurance too high. We wouldn’t be looking for new tenders if [we were turning over more than] 250k ... You have to think to that the expertise in smaller, growing firms can sometimes be better than the bigger ones. Larger firms have extra costs in managers, project managers and advisers whereas small firms do not and they can be very competitive. SMEs are having to collaborate together to apply for a tender. How is that fair? This is only the tip of the iceberg based on the small amount of research I have done. I imagine that, if I delved deeper into this, I would find a massive can of worms ready to explode for small businesses.”
“They are probably dying to grow their business by being able to get one of these tenders. Here are some comments on a recent post I saw online from businesses regarding this type of criteria. One wrote: We had this exact problem during the summer. Put the effort to win a particularly good and large tender and then were forced to accept terms and conditions that were written for a very large business and not a small growing [company] ... Another business wrote: The EL and PL insurance requirements eliminate SMEs and micro-enterprises. Those values are boilerplate requirements and, I suspect, are copied and pasted from tender to tender without question ... Another business wrote: Been there, done the tenders, and effectively given up. Public procurement in Ireland - and same in the UK.”
“Today, I would like to discuss the difficulty that smaller firms have in being able to put themselves forward in the tendering process particularly for Government projects. I am going to use a recent example of a tender for a €60,000 contract. Some of the criteria are as follows. First, confirmation of tax compliance, which is fair enough. We all should be tax compliant. Second, confirmation that the tendering party's turnover exceeded over €200,000 for the last three years. That would probably cut a lot of us out of being able to do anything. Third, confirmation that the following insurances are in place: employer's liability of €13 million and public liability €6.5 million. Plenty of small businesses could not afford that type of insurance and definitely did not have a turnover of €200,000.”
“Second, can we get a straight answer from insurers as to why their profits are up but premiums have risen by 23%? How is that? Third, what is our plan to cap legal fees? I have just read out those figures - €694 through the Injuries Resolution Board compared with €25,000 through litigation - yet 70% of people are still claiming through litigation.”
“Every unnecessary euro spent on litigation is a euro taken away from wages, community services and local investment. The following is a mad statistic. In 2024, the average compensation payout through the Injuries Resolution Board was €25,484 and the legal fees were about €694. If someone went to the resolution board, they paid €694 in legal fees and got €25,000 in compensation. Through litigation, the payout was €25,900, so about €300 more, but the legal fees were also €25,000. So, it cost €694 through the Injuries Resolution Board or €25,000 in legal fees by going through litigation. I really urge the Leader to ask the Minister to come in and debate three things with us. First, can we do a massive media campaign to push people to go through the Injuries Resolution Board?”
“The Central Bank of Ireland today published the national claims information database, NCID, liability insurance report. It is one I have been very much looking forward to seeing just to see what impact all the reforms the Government has been doing are having on our insurance premiums. We see that insurance companies have recorded a 10% profit margin on liability insurance in 2024. However, liability insurance premiums have increased by 23% since 2020. Premiums are going only one way and that is up. In many cases legal fees match awards. If there are two people, one going through the litigation channel and one going through the personal injuries board, they are both getting the same compensation but one is paying hundreds in legal fees and one is paying thousands in legal fees.”
“It opened its doors in 2005 and a lovely man called Pat Mullaney continues a lot of the work there today along with Sister Catherine. I do not think any family has not been touched by something in regards to addiction so having addiction services is very important. I also congratulate Tabor House, which is going to celebrate its 21st birthday. I wanted to comment on how important addiction services are and, to congratulate Tabor House on all it has done and is about to do in the future. It is about to commence a secondary treatment centre called Misneach, which will be for women. That will start in the third quarter of 2026, so congratulations to it.”