In light of tomorrow's sub-Cabinet meeting, I am making my final call to the Minister, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, to not increase the personal injury guidelines. We cannot let the progressive, reforming work of countless Ministers in recent years be thrown away at perhaps the stroke of a pen which would decimate countless family businesses throughout the country, particularly in my home county of Meath. If this measure goes ahead, all our premiums will increase, especially business premiums, and businesses are the bac…

I thank the Minister of State for coming in. I am here to ask about the SME test being applied to the legislation on the personal injury guidelines, as there is a recommendation that they be increased. The SME test was introduced by the Government as a part of measures in May 2024. This is a no-brainer because any major new measure from the Government will be assessed for its impact on small business through an enhanced SME test. In all cases, a completed SME test must be included or an explanation provided as to w…

I thank the Minister of State. I really appreciate it and the acknowledgement of my work and his own on everything to do with insurance. It is the reason I got into politics seven years ago when I nearly lost my business over it all. That is why I am passionate about it. It can be hard when you know something is wrong and you feel it is going to happen. I just know it will be wrong if these rates increase because it will have a catastrophic impact. One lady told me yesterday that if her insurance goes up by anythin…

Two weeks ago, I stood up here and said it was not fair the Meath versus Kerry match was not available to stream or on TV. I told of how Meath are back in form and how we want to see these matches. I am thrilled to say last weekend's match between Meath and Galway was broadcast and brought joy to many people who went to the match or watched it at home, in the pub or in a nursing home. I was fortunate enough to go and watch the royal county win with an epic performance. When I returned to Navan, it was a sea of gree…

On this beautiful morning, I would also like to speak about the issue raised by Senator Fitzpatrick. I believe others might speak about it as well. An article in today's edition of The Irish Times let us know that the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration is planning to bring the personal injuries guidelines increase to Cabinet in a week and a half. This is probably the 15th time I have stood up here to talk about this because it is too serious a matter not to talk about. Coincidentally, I received a pre…

To any man who assaults a woman: shame on you. To any man who monitors a woman, controls her moves, where she is, what she is doing, her finances: shame on you. To any man who grabs his partner's phone to look at who she is speaking to: shame on you. To any man who makes a woman feel isolated, hopeless, suicidal, with nowhere to turn, then shame on you. To any man who allows his children to see any of this behaviour, what impact are you having on their lives? Shame on you. Today, like my colleague, we read in the a…

I am delighted to stand and speak on this motion today. I welcome the motion by my colleagues. While I knew there was a huge problem with dentistry in Ireland, I had no clue how severe it was until I began my research. Analysis from the Irish Dental Association shows that we need an extra 500-----

I second the motion. The analysis from the Irish Dental Association shows that we need an extra 500 dentists across the private and public sector immediately. The number of dentists with a dental treatment services scheme, DTSS, contract is down 642 nationally in 12 years. A total of 7,711 children were seen by dentists in the school dental screening service in Meath in quarter 4 of 2017, compared with just more than 1,000 in quarter 4 of 2023. Those are baffling figures. In the public dental service, the lack of d…

I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this important debate on the personalised budgets Bill on behalf of Senator Nikki Bradley and Fine Gael. I commend those who introduced this Bill. I admire Senator Clonan's passionate advocacy. The idea that people with disabilities should have more control over the supports they receive is not radical; it is common sense and a reflection of what we have heard time and again. For people living with additional needs, choice, independence and dignity matter, just as …

I want to speak about the SME test that was introduced by the Government as part of a series of measures in May 2024. This is a no-brainer because it means that any major new measure from the Government will be assessed for its impact on small businesses through an enhanced SME test. In all cases, they must include a completed SME test or provide an explanation as to why it is considered to not be required. It is important that policy makers employ the principle of "think small first" and consider how the measure w…

I second the motion.

I welcome the Minister of State. I support the motion by my Fianna Fáil colleagues on enterprise today. It is always hard to figure out what part of enterprise one wants to talk about, because there is so much in it. I am very passionate about enterprise. I have always said that behind every small business is a dream. It begins with a dream or vision. A business plan is drafted. Perhaps a loan is taken out or money is invested by the founder. Soon that dream becomes a reality. In many cases, however, this is only f…

Will I be able to get an answer? I thank the Minister of State for coming in. I wish to raise the issue of apprenticeships in the furniture industry. Some say that the great wind of 1839 was the start of the furniture industry in Navan, County Meath. The big wind occurred on the afternoon of 6 January and swept across Europe, causing major damage and resulting in several hundred deaths. We had a plentiful supply of trees, the tools were there on the ground and we were ready to go. Fast forward to the 1960s and 1990…

I thank the Minister of State.

I raise the issue of being able to watch our beautiful sport of GAA either on streaming devices or television. At the weekend, we saw a titanic victory for Meath, who became the first team since Tyrone in 2008 to beat Kerry and Dublin in the same All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. It was a fantastic win and great for our county - come on the Royals - but unless you went to Tullamore, you had no way to see that match. It was not on GAA+ or the television. You had to wait for the highlights. It is grand for so…

As discussed during the Commencement debate just a few minutes ago, Wellman International Ireland filed a petition to place its operation in Mullagh into examinership. I thank the Minister of State, Niamh Smyth. She came across as very passionate about the situation there, but it would be remiss of me not to raise it again, being from County Meath, because it obviously affects counties Cavan and Meath and, in fact, counties like Kildare and Louth, from where people travel to Wellman International to work. Unfortuna…

Self-examination is key. If anyone takes anything from my speech today, I plead with them to hear the words "self-examination". The Minister is very passionate about health. I welcome the opportunity to speak to her today about BreastCheck and breast cancer. As we are all aware, breast cancer is the commonest invasive cancer among women. It touches the lives of thousands of individuals and families in Ireland and leaves a lasting impact. I know that only too well from my own family. Almost every person in Ireland k…

I move: That Seanad Éireann: acknowledges: - the publication, in 2020, of an Action Plan For Insurance Reform; - that there have been four Action Plan Implementation Reports to date; - the establishment of the Office to Promote Competition in the Insurance Market; - the introduction of new personal injuries guidelines in April 2021, which set reduced levels for personal injury compensation and changed the amounts of General Damages to be awarded by the courts and by the Injuries Resolution Board; - the reform of th…

The increase in the personal injury guidelines, as recommended by the Judicial Council, of 16.7% is excessive. As I was preparing for this over the past couple of days, I reflected on the first time I spoke about horrendous insurance difficulties facing businesses, which was on 24 January 2019. There I was, sitting in a ball pool in my soft-play centre, full of hope and enthusiasm that we could do all we could when it came to insurance reform to save businesses like mine. An article in the Irish Examiner reads: "Li…

I thank the Minister of State for everything he highlighted. I really appreciate it. Since 2020, we have put a great deal of work into everything relating to insurance reform. One of the first things was the establishment of a Cabinet subcommittee. I do not think we had seen anything like that over the previous 15 years, so it was important. I would like the subcommittee to meet regularly and deal with the issues that have been raised here today. A few of my colleagues raised issues that the Minister of State might…