Action Plan for Insurance Reform: Statements
Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-13
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Evanne Ní Chuilinn (FG), Nominated by the Taoiseach

I wish to raise the impact of insurance on sports, community participation and voluntary activity. This is something that my colleague, Senator Nelson Murray, has raised and I will expand on it. Public liability insurance is not an abstract cost for sports clubs and community organisations. It affects whether training can happen; whether events can go ahead; whether volunteers can be supported; and whether facilities can open to the public.
Recently, a small GAA club in east Galway had to find almost €7,000 to pay its insurance premium. It was a 20% increase on the previous year, despite having no claims in that period. Insurance now accounts for around 12% of that club's total annual revenue. For a volunteer-run organisation, that is money that cannot be spent on underage coaching, facilities or even jerseys. That example shows why this matters. The reforms delivered in recent years are welcome but the practical test is whether clubs and community organisations can obtain affordable and usable public liability cover.
As Senator Nelson Murray has pointed out, competition is a serious part of the problem. In many areas of public liability insurance, sports bodies, charities, community groups and voluntary organisations have very limited realistic options. If there are only one or two underwriters willing to quote or if cover comes with high excesses and exclusions, then the organisation may technically have insurance but not in a way that is genuinely usable. The consequence is not just a higher bill but fewer events and activities and more risk being carried by volunteers and less opportunity for people to participate.
I urge the Minister of State to ensure that sporting, community and voluntary organisations are specifically considered in the action plan implementation in order that reform is judged on whether they can obtain affordable and usable public liability cover. Could he take away the issues raised in the BDO report commissioned by the Department of rural and community development in 2023 on public liability insurance costs and the availability of insurance to the community and voluntary sector? It would be useful to establish whether the report has been finalised, if it has informed the insurance reform agenda across government and whether it can now be published.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-05-13/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:56+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-13