Seamus Healy
Tipperary South · Independent · Ireland
“Across Ireland, 624,000 people provide regular unpaid care to children and adults with additional needs. A recent 2026 report on care shows that 75% of carers never received respite, 49% cut back on essentials such as food and heating, and 48% experienced severe loneliness.”
“Respite and residential services for persons with intellectual disabilities are in crisis. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities provides the right to live independently in the community with choices equal to others.”
“It states, "Our campaign started with a simple question: 'Who will provide the care my daughter needs when I am no longer able to care for her?'" It continues, "It is not uncommon to hear parents say; I would hope my son or daughter goes before me. Then at least I know he or she is safe.”
“What is needed urgently and what is called for in that submission is, first, an emergency funded plan in budget 2027 to address the needs of parents in their 70s, 80s and 90s who cannot wait for systemic change.”
“Down the centuries, generations of Irish men and women espoused the desire for a 32-county independent sovereign republic. As far back as the 1790s, Theobald Wolfe Tone, the father of Irish republicanism, focused on a vision of complete separation from Britain, the elimination of sectarian divisions and the unity of Catholic, Protestant a…”
“He saw partition as a reactionary device to divide the Irish working class. Again, how right he was. This Bill requires the Government to prepare and publish a Green Paper on Irish unity, convene a citizens' assembly, engage with communities and provide regular updates to the Oireachtas.”
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“If there is to be a re-establishment of town and borough councils and real local government reform, this task force must be open, transparent and accountable and must involve real public consultation. If this does not happen, the Government's statement that local government is the heartbeat of democracy will mean nothing. Will the Taoiseach make sure that real local government and democracy are put in place by means of the re-establishment of borough and town councils and the setting up of new councils for towns that have grown and expanded in recent years?”
“I acknowledge the programme for Government commitment to establish a local democracy task force. However, there are widespread concerns about the terms of reference of the task force. There is no mention of the re-establishment of borough or town councils. The composition of the task force is heavily loaded in favour of existing individuals and bodies connected to local government and local government management. There are no representatives, for instance, of community, tenants' or residents' organisations. There are also no trade union or chamber of commerce representatives. The task force has limited its consultation process to requests for submissions from designated organisations. There is effectively no public consultation process.”
“I want to raise with the Taoiseach again the re-establishment of borough and town councils. As he knows, local government is the heartbeat of democracy. The heart was torn out of democracy with the abolition of town and borough councils in 2014 by the Fine Gael-Labour Party coalition. These councils were replaced by committees with no powers, functions or funding. Effectively, they are talking shops. This has done serious damage to towns right across the country. It is widely accepted and acknowledged, even by the former leader of the Labour Party, Brendan Howlin, that this was a very bad decision. Clonmel, one of the five original boroughs in the country, with a mayor and a form of local democracy dating back to the 1400s, is a town very badly affected by that decision.”
“I want to raise the severe shortage of healthcare assistants in south Tipperary. This is a service formerly known as a home help service and the shortage is the result of no recruitment, no replacements for sick or annual leave and no replacements for resignations or staff leaving for other employment. This has resulted in significant waiting lists across the county. Hundreds of people are waiting for the service and many clients are approved for the service but it cannot be provided because of the lack of staff. There is no cover or reduced cover for vulnerable patients. This is also holding up the discharge of patients from our hospitals. Will the Tánaiste intervene with the HSE to launch a significant recruitment campaign across south Tipperary to urgently address this situation?”
“In government it has abolished South Tipperary County Council, Clonmel Corporation and Carrick-on-Suir, Cashel and Tipperary town councils and closed Kickham Barracks in Clonmel and St. Michael's acute psychiatric unit.”
“That broken promise was a profound failure of children with scoliosis that led to pain, suffering and devastation for individuals and families. The culture of broken promises by the Government and politicians has expanded into breaking the law. Over 16,000 children with additional needs are on waiting lists for assessments of need. They wait years for assessment despite a legal entitlement to have one within six months of referral. Fine Gael has been in government since 2011 and knows this very well. Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Independents are now knowingly breaking the law and that needs to stop urgently. I have no confidence in the Fine Gael Party. Its record in south Tipperary is atrocious.”
“I get an extra minute, a Cheann Comhairle, thank you. In the 2024 general election campaign, promises and commitments were made and have been reneged on. The Tánaiste promised that a maximum childcare payment of €200 per month would come into force within 100 days of the new Government. That has not been done, it is not in the budget and there has been no mention of it or of a public childcare service. The carer's means test was to be abolished and that too has been reneged on. A commitment to introduce a weekly cost-of-disability payment was also reneged on. The promise no child would wait more than four months for scoliosis surgery was also reneged on over and over again and is being reneged on as we speak.”
“A Cheann Comhairle, this motion of confidence is a cynical political manoeuvre. A motion of no confidence has not been lodged and we have seen no details of such a motion. This procedure is unprecedented in this House and has more to do with the presidential election on Friday week. The culture of broken promises - making promises and commitments in the full knowledge they will not be kept - is undermining trust and confidence in politics and politicians. This will have to stop or it will undermine the very fabric of society. Politicians will have to be accountable not just for their actions but for their promises as well. In the 2024 general election campaign, promises and commitments were made-----”
“I want to raise again the fact that the people of south Tipperary have had no ophthalmology service - no eye service - for more than 12 months. Some 2,300 individuals are on the waiting list, including hundreds of children who have never been seen. Hundreds more are adults with glaucoma, who have either never been seen or are awaiting follow-up treatment and, in some cases, may be facing blindness. The HSE has advertised the permanent post on a temporary basis, making it difficult, if not impossible, to fill it, and so it has turned out. It has again advertised the permanent post on a temporary basis. Why has this happened? We cannot get an answer. Perhaps the Taoiseach can get one for us. The fear in south Tipperary is that the HSE plans to downgrade or transfer the service.”
“It highlighted the significant psychological effects of the crisis, including trauma, stress and long-term mental health harm, confirming that redress must also address well-being as well as structural safety. I absolutely support the campaign for 100% redress for families affected by this. It is time for the Government to take note of the devastation this scheme has created and the absolute mess that the 2022 Act has created, and remedy the situation once and for all.”
“Is the ceiling coming down? Is the roof coming off? This is mental and financial torture. There are applications for redress or grants, partial approvals and appeals. Appeals have been left unresolved for two years, leaving families in unsafe homes, in breach of the State's duty to provide timely remedies. The appeals system is slow, opaque and structurally flawed. Families are under huge pressure financially and mentally. The mental pressure, distress and depression have been highlighted in a study called "An earthquake in slow motion: The mental health impact of Ireland's defective concrete crisis". It is a study produced by Oisin Keenan and Professor Karen Kirby at Ulster University.”
“Worse, the standards it enshrines are outdated and built on assumptions that have been disproven by current scientific research. Homeowners therefore continue to bear the cost of the Government's failure, both financially and emotionally, while the State pretends that the problem has been solved. The human impact of this devastation should be remembered. You can see a situation where an individual or couple decide to buy or build a home, take years saving for income to support that and take more time finding a mortgage to buy or build that home. There is the joy of the completion and moving into the home, and then there is devastation that the house is totally falling apart. Every morning, you get up to find a new crack, a new hole and more mould. You wake up in the middle of the night to noise. What section of the house is now at risk?”
“I commend Deputy Charles Ward on bringing forward this detailed and comprehensive motion. The campaign for 100% redress is one I fully support. It is indicative of the support for that campaign that all the Opposition across the House have supported Charles's motion today. The motion highlights the fact that light-touch regulation, facilitated and supported by the State, is the root cause of the devastation that this defective concrete has caused for thousands of families, particularly in Donegal and indeed right across the west of the country. The Government calls the 2022 Act enhanced, yet the reality for homeowners is very different. Thousands are still living with partial repairs, repeated works and ongoing risk. They have to respond to a crisis that the State itself created, yet it fails to acknowledge that responsibility.”
“I was further surprised to find that the authority itself had not on its own initiative and on the basis of its statutory advisory responsibility suggested or proposed such a plan to deal with the unacceptable waiting list. As the Minister knows, timely assessment of need is the fundamental issue facing disability services. It is the foundation and basis for all future education and development for the individuals concerned and the development of the necessary services. It is as though this issue is not being taken seriously. I call on the National Disability Authority and the Government to prepare and publish urgently a paper on how the huge waiting list for the assessment of need is to be dealt with into the future. This is a fundamental issue which underpins everything that needs to be done in relation to disability services.”
“Its main statutory functions are: to advise the Government on disability policy and related issues; to undertake and commission research in relation to disability; develop standards and codes of practice to support accessibility and universal design; to monitor the implementation of disability policy and legislation at national level; and to promote universal design across services, the built environment, information and communication technology and public policy. Its role is to provide evidence, policy advice and monitoring that informs Government decision making. I was surprised and disappointed to find that the special Cabinet committee on disability had not even requested advice from the authority on how the unacceptable assessment of need waiting list might be dealt with.”
“Unfortunately, even with the extra funding, we will still be running to standstill and the Government will continue to break the law, denying thousands of children their legal right to an assessment within the six-month time limit. This is because there is no policy, no strategy and no plan to deal with the unacceptable waiting list. Much has been made of the special Cabinet committee on disability based in the Taoiseach's office. However, we have seen no coherent plan emerging from this committee to tackle the assessment of need waiting list. Dollops of money at budget time alone will not solve this problem. Last week the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters heard presentations from representatives of the National Disability Authority. That authority was established under the National Disability Authority Act 1999.”
“I want to return to the fundamental issue of the timely assessment of need within the six-month time limit. The Government continues to break the law that requires the completion of an assessment of need within six months of referral. There are 16,000 children on waiting lists currently and that is estimated to increase to 20,000 by year end. There are over 40,000 on waiting lists for various therapies such as speech and language, occupational therapy, psychology, etc. I welcome the additional moneys for the assessment of need included in the budget last week. I commend the teenage disability rights campaigner, Cara Darmody from Ardfinnan in south Tipperary, who has extracted two tranches of funding for this service.”
“It is not unusual therefore for carers themselves to become ill from stress, overwork and isolation, resulting in a situation where both disabled persons and their carers are hospitalised. It is important to note that carers save the State about €20 billion each year, preventing avoidable hospital admissions and enabling many people to remain in their homes safely for longer periods. In the run-up to the last general election, all parties committed to introducing a weekly cost-of-disability payment. There is no sign of that payment currently, nor was it in last week's budget. I fully agree with the motion put forward by Sinn Féin this evening, which calls for the immediate introduction of a weekly cost-of-living payment and a lump-sum payment before Christmas in recognition of the additional costs.”
“It is accepted that persons with disabilities and their families face a much higher cost of living than people generally. A Government-commissioned report prepared by Indecon in 2021 confirmed this. It reported the additional cost at between €9,500 and €12,000 per annum. Research by the Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice put the additional cost at about €244 per week. A study this year by the Economic and Social Research Institute showed that households with disabled persons face significant financial burdens and are at very high risk of poverty. Many of these households are doubly affected because they also have members who care on a 24-hour basis on a carer's allowance of €260 per week or €1.55 per hour.”
“I ask the Minister to make funds available immediately to ensure grants can continue for the remainder of this year and to put in place a multi-annual funding model so that situations like this never arise again.”
“The disabled person's grant scheme and the housing adaptation scheme are vital elements in ensuring that older people and disabled persons can remain in their homes for as long as possible and enjoy a better quality of life. These grants also support employment and small builders. Tipperary County Council has stopped taking grant applications, effectively meaning that no work can be done for nearly six months. These are essential works like level-access showers, stair lifts and downstairs bedrooms. Tipperary County Council has used this scheme proactively and very effectively but the scheme has now been stopped due to a lack of funds.”
“Does the Government have the political will and, indeed, the good sense to reverse this decision, stop paying hugely profitable multinational organisations and bring forward a targeted scheme that would support local cafés and restaurants with moderate turnovers?”
“The Government is proposing to spend €681 million on what is clearly an unnecessary and wasteful cut. At the same time, the Government has raised tax on PAYE workers, reneged on its commitment to abolish the means test for carers and reneged on its commitment for a weekly cost-of-living disability payment. The Government has cut all cost-of-living supports in the budget. There is no second tier of child benefit to tackle child poverty or no maximum of €200 per month for child care costs. Very profitable fast-food giants are benefiting at the expense of poor children, carers, persons with disabilities and PAYE workers.”
“Will the Tánaiste accept that the Government has, let us say, made an error in judgment or a miscalculation, or even that the Government was misled, and reverse this totally unnecessary decision and bring forward a targeted proposal to support small, local cafés and restaurants with moderate turnover?”
“It does not look like a crisis. There are 15,370 businesses in food and beverage services. Of these, 99.8% employ fewer than 250 people, making up 85% of the turnover. What we have is the State subsidising a very small number of very large, very profitable businesses. To give a few examples: McDonald's, profits up 17% to €42.4 million, a gain of €20 million; Supermac's, profits up 28% to €43.6 million, a gain of €12.5 million; Domino's, €280 million Irish turnover, a gain of €12.5 million; Krispy Kreme, a gain of €635,000; Compass Catering, €130.4 million turnover, a €5.8 million, and Sodexo, profits up by 44%, a gain of €5 million. These six large companies share €54 million of a windfall gift from the Government, in a country where we have 640,000 people living below the poverty line, including 190,000 children.”
“I respectfully ask the Tánaiste to reflect on the decision to reduce the VAT rate for the hospitality industry. On mature reflection, the Government might reverse this totally baseless and unbelievable decision. The State is proposing to gift millions of euro to a very small number of very large and very profitable businesses. I suggest that the Government fell for a fierce lobbying campaign that was effectively a scam. There is no crisis in the hospitality industry. Small local cafés and restaurants have a legitimate case for support but the main industry is thriving. The facts speak for themselves: as profits in this country between 2019 and 2025 are up by 72%; 73% of small and medium enterprises have reported making a profit higher than pre-Covid years; employment is up; and hospitality is up by 6.8%, while the national figure is 3.5%.”
“It preferred to have thousands of families without water over the weekend and into today. Families had to go without water for domestic purposes and for showering and a local childcare centre had to close on Tuesday. Contractors were ready, willing and able to do the work but could not get the go-ahead to do it. This is absolutely unacceptable. The sooner Irish Water is abolished, the better. I want to remind the Minister of Transport of his commitment to provide money for the N24 road which goes through south Tipperary. It is a major corridor and is urgently in need of upgrading.”
“Over the last 12 months, there has been issue after issue, outage after outage and boil water notice after boil water notice from one end of south Tipperary to the other; from Tipperary town to Cashel to Clonmel to Carrick-on-Suir and all places in between. Irish Water does not believe in notification or consultation. It is an unaccountable quango. It has no respect for customers and is not fit for purpose. Its most recent outrageous conduct happened in Clonmel at the weekend. There was an outage late on Friday. The public were finally notified that water would return on Sunday morning. It was then Monday morning, then Tuesday morning and finally, water began to return this morning. Why did no work take place over the weekend? None took place because Irish Water refused to pay for work over the weekend.”
“The programme for Government commits to this payment and persons with disabilities have significantly higher poverty and deprivation rates than the national average. Research shows that disabled households cost €244 more per week to run than the average household. There is no sign of this payment in this budget. There is welcome additional funding for water and wastewater services but the atrocious conduct of Irish Water nationally and in south Tipperary since its establishment confirms my long-held view that Irish Water should be abolished and the operation of water services should be handed back to local authorities.”
“There is also no sign of the promised move to a public model of childcare. Children availing of childcare should do so on the same basis as children attending primary school. Tackling poverty is another broken promise. This budget fails to prioritise income adequacy for the most vulnerable groups. It fails to live up to the programme for Government commitment to a progressive social protection system that is sustainable and fair. It is another budget and another year with no increase in child benefit and no double child benefit payment before Christmas. There is no mention of a second tier of child benefit for lower income families. This would have a significant effect on child poverty, lifting almost 40,000 children out of poverty. The weekly cost of disability payment is another broken promise.”
“This is a budget of broken promises. In the run-up to the general election, all parties promised the abolition of the means test for the carer's allowance. The public believed this would be done in the first 100 days of the new Government or, at the very least, in its first budget. That was a promise reneged on in this budget. This means that thousands of carers are locked out of getting the allowance. Into the bargain, carers who are local authority tenants will pay €2 out of the €10 increase in carer's allowance in increased rent. Childcare is another broken promise. Again, in the run-up to the general election, all parties committed to a maximum €200 per month for childcare costs. The Tánaiste said that would happen in the first 100 days of this Government. There is no sign of it in this budget.”
“This is, of course, in keeping with the bad record of Fine Gael in relation to Clonmel. In government, Fine Gael closed Kickham Barracks, abolished Clonmel Corporation and South Tipperary County Council and closed St. Michael's acute psychiatric unit. The people of Clonmel will not accept either this decision or this snub. I am demanding that the Government Oireachtas Members in south Tipperary, namely Deputy Michael Murphy and Senator Garret Ahearn of Fine Gael and Senator Imelda Goldsboro of Fianna Fáil, make sure that this outrageous decision is revised and that Clonmel is included in the scheme.”
“During the last general election campaign, all parties committed to abolishing the means test for carers. That is another promise that has been reneged on in this budget. Families were looking forward to the implementation of a maximum payment of €200 per month for childcare, which was again promised by all parties. Another promise reneged on. Clonmel, a major social and economic hub, has been forgotten again in this budget. In fact, it has been specifically and deliberately excluded. The special regeneration areas designated for the enhancement of older housing and commercial properties are being extended to include the towns of Athlone, Drogheda, Dundalk, Letterkenny and Sligo. Kilkenny is already in the scheme. Clonmel has been excluded from this scheme by Fine Gael's Minister for Finance, Pascal Donohoe, in the budget.”
“This scheme has been vandalised by the Government. Tipperary County Council has not purchased a single house this year due to a lack of funding. The budget refers to grants to adapt homes for older people and persons with disabilities. Tipperary County Council had to stop its work on the scheme in this regard last month due to running out of funding. There is no multi-annual funding proposed in the budget for this scheme, which means that this will happen again and again. While social welfare increases are welcome, they are nowhere near providing a minimum standard of living. Social Justice Ireland says that core social welfare rates must increase by €25 per week if there is to be any impact in the context of reducing poverty. Similarly, the living wage needs to be at €17 per hour rather than the €14.15 cent proposed.”
“Last year's budget widened the rich-poor gap again, putting €1,214 per year into the pockets of people on incomes of over €100,000 a year. That was not the case for those on lower incomes. This budget makes the gap even greater. Ireland is now a deeply unequal society in which there is poverty, deprivation and homelessness. Families are under huge pressure to keep a roof over their heads and to stay above the waterline. The budget continues the failed housing policy of previous Administrations. The Government is relying primarily on the private sector to deliver, which is something it has never done and never will do. We need an emergency programme for the building of social and affordable houses by local authorities on public land. There is no additional funding in this budget for the tenant in situ scheme, which prevents homelessness.”
“Parents are constantly choosing between heating the home, if they have one, and feeding their children. Budgets are about choices. We should always remember that the measure of a nation is how it looks after its most vulnerable. In this budget, the Government chosen to support the wealthy as opposed to the most vulnerable. Budgets must be about fairness. We are one of the wealthier countries. We are the wealthiest we have been at any time in our history, but there are 630,000 people living below the poverty line, 190,000 of whom are children. Approximately 16,000 people are homeless, 5,014 of whom are children. The minimum wage and social welfare rates are inadequate to provide a minimum standard for living. That is on the basis of research carried out by various organisations.”
“This is a budget for the rich and powerful in our society, namely developers, vulture funds, big landlords and millionaires. It is certainly not a budget for PAYE workers, the homeless, housing applicants, families, children, the disabled or even social welfare recipients. This Government is completely out of touch with ordinary people. Those in government live in a bubble here in Leinster House. Is it that they do not know or do not care that there is a cost-of-living crisis? Families are struggling to make ends meet. Grocery prices are through the roof. We have some of the highest energy prices in Europe, yet there is not a single cost-of-living support in this budget. Families are falling behind with rent, mortgage repayments and energy bills.”
“There have been many emergency sittings of this Oireachtas to pass legislation for much less serious matters than what we are facing in Gaza and on the international stage. Surely it is now time to call an emergency sitting of this Oireachtas, of Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann, to pass the occupied territories Bill, to impose sanctions and to stop military flights through Shannon Airport. Surely the situation we see in Gaza demands such a response. The Irish people have a particular bond with the Palestinian people through our colonial past, our famine - An Gorta Mór - and through our neutrality. It is time that the Government called an emergency session of this Oireachtas to impose sanctions, to pass the occupied territories Bill and to stop military planes going through Shannon.”
“For almost two years, we have seen the Israeli state deliberately attempting to exterminate the Palestinian people by bomb, bullet and starvation. Gaza is now one big concentration camp and 2.3 million people are facing annihilation and starvation. Some 65,000 people have been murdered, included 25,000 children. Every international agency of note has condemned Israel, including the international courts. Last week, the United Nations deemed what is going on in Gaza as genocide. The prime minister of Israel is subject to an arrest warrant. The latest outrage last night is piracy and the kidnapping in international waters of Irish citizens, including a Member of the Oireachtas. This is absolutely outrageous.”
“One million Irish people died in An Gorta Mór in the 1840s and 1850s. The devastation of the famine was a genocide of the Irish people by a foreign imperial government. British imperial power allowed our people to starve while exporting shipload after shipload of foodstuffs. In a similar situation, Israel is starving the Palestinian people by stopping thousands of truckloads of food and humanitarian aid from getting into Gaza. This country, because of its colonial past and the Great Famine, has a unique bond with the Palestinian people. Strong words and condemnation are not good enough anymore. We must immediately impose sanctions, pass the occupied territories Bill on goods and services and stop the passage of military planes through Shannon.”
“Shortly after that, in June 2024, the United Nations international commission of inquiry found that Israel's action in Gaza constituted the war crime of willful killing and mistreatment and a crime against human against humanity of extermination. The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Netanyahu. Israel is stopping humanitarian aid to Gaza while Gazans starve. That is a war crime. The United Nations last week classified Israel's action in Gaza as genocide. There are strong sanctions on Russia for the war in Ukraine and, last week, sanctions were imposed on Iran. I have no problem with that but what does it take to impose sanctions on Israel, a state that is committing genocide in Gaza? Famine and starvation are part of our heritage in Ireland.”
“What is happening in Gaza is the ultimate appalling vista with 65,000 people murdered, including 25,000 children. Every day, on our television screens we are witnessing the deliberate destruction of the Palestinian people by bomb, bullet and starvation. Gaza is now one big concentration camp and 2.3 million Palestinians are facing obliteration and starvation. In January 2024, the International Court of Justice found that the Palestinian people in Gaza had a plausible right to be protected from the imminent risk of genocide. That ruling triggered obligations under the Genocide Convention to take all possible actions to prevent genocide.”
“Respite is another issue and three out of four carers never receive it. That is leading to a situation where carers become ill and those they care for end up being admitted to hospitals. The budget next week must do three things. It must abolish the means test for the carer's allowance, it must substantially increase the carer's allowance payment and it must provide targeted supports for families who are caring for persons with complex needs. Last week, I referenced Alex, a 14-year-old boy who is being cared for at home in his bedroom, which is effectively an intensive care unit, with the support of two carers 24 hours a day. This family is under severe general and financial pressure and was recently threatened with electricity disconnection. This week they were refused the fuel allowance on a technicality.”
“Family Carers Ireland say: Despite being described as the backbone of Ireland’s health and social care system, Family carers continue to shoulder the consequences of underinvestment in home care supports, outdated policies, eligibility criteria that no longer reflect the realities of modern caring ... Surveys show that 69% of carers struggle to make ends meet, with 29% having to cut back on food and heat and 23% missing a rent or mortgage payment. Research by the Vincentian Partnership in April 2022, before the cost-of-living crisis, showed that income supports for carers were inadequate and caring households incurred additional weekly expenditure of €244 per week. This effectively wiped out the carer's allowance completely, meaning people were effectively caring for free. Caring is work and should be paid accordingly.”
“The acid test of the bona fides of this Government on carers and caring is the immediate abolition of the means test for the carer's allowance. This has been the demand of carers and Family Carers Ireland for years and was promised by all political parties during the course of the last general election. It was understood by the public that the means test would be abolished within the first 100 days of this Government, but of course we are still waiting. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael misled the public again. The Minister should announce the abolition immediately and should take the opportunity of next week’s budget to do that. Some 500,000 carers, including 67,000 young carers, are doing 19 million hours of unpaid care a week, thereby saving the State about €20 billion a year.”
“Of course, this number will increase in the future as significantly more rainfall comes along due to climate change, which, of course, increases the likelihood of flood events. I ask the Minister of State to intervene directly with the insurance industry to ensure properties in areas where modern flood defences have been erected have access to flood insurance on the normal basis. Ultimately, the State may have to step in to provide a type of governmental insurance of last resort to cover those who cannot get insurance at all. This problem, of course, is going to get bigger over the coming years. The Programme for Government 2025 - Securing Ireland's Future commits the Government "to further action to drive down insurance costs impacting households, motorists and businesses ...". It sets out ten actions to do this.”
“If you have an address in Clonmel, the insurance companies are immediately suspicious and refuse to take into account the very positive impact of the flood relief scheme. I know the Office of Public Works has a memorandum of understanding with Insurance Ireland, which represents the insurance industry, and it sets out the principles of how the two organisations work together, or should work together, to facilitate the availability of insurance against the risk of flooding. This memorandum of understanding is, I am afraid, not fit for purpose. I believe it requires urgent review. Currently, one in 20 buildings or properties has difficulties accessing flood insurance according to the Central Bank.”
“More than ten years after the successful completion of the Clonmel flood relief scheme, householders and businesses are finding it difficult if not impossible to get flood insurance. If they are able to get it, it is with heavily loaded premiums. The Clonmel flood relief scheme was completed in 2013 at a cost of €44.5 million. The scheme was completed to one-in-100-year protection levels. It has been very successful, but despite this and the exceptional level of protection afforded by the scheme, insurance companies are still denying insurance cover or are heavily loading premiums. This applies not only to properties that have a previous history of flooding but to homes and businesses that have never flooded and are far away from previous flood events.”
“For example, people who live in south Tipperary and work in Clonmel, in Tipperary University Hospital, Tipperary County Council or in the medical devices industry in Medite, Showerings or MSD, must drive to work. Students attending the Technological University of the Shannon campus in Clonmel must drive to college. Young people are being especially fleeced. Health insurance is another area putting families under severe pressure. Another raft of health insurance increases was announced recently, and policyholders now face premiums of in or around €2,000 per annum. This is impacting almost 2.5 million people in the country. Flood insurance is another area that is very difficult.”
“In other words, they are paying more for less cover, despite there being fewer claims and safer practices. There is absolutely no justification for this situation. Premiums must now reflect the reduced number of claims and the reduced awards. The Government must take action to make sure this happens. The increased cost of motor insurance is putting families and young people under severe pressure. The cost of motor insurance has increased by more than four times the general rate of inflation. This is particularly disadvantageous to people living in rural areas where there is no or very little public transport. People in these areas have no option but to drive to work, school, college and entertainment.”