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In the wake of the closure of Mountrath Mart, Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty said that not enough is being done to tackle the rising cost of mart insurance.
Speaking in the Dáil on Wednesday 16 January, Doherty said 18 months ago he raised concerns with Minister of State with special responsibility for insurance Michael D’Arcy.
“He [Minister D’Arcy] said he had spoken to Insurance Ireland which told him there had been no increase in insurance premiums in marts across the State.
"He went to the wolf and asked the wolf how it was looking after the chickens and the wolf told him it was looking after them well.”
Doherty said this was not the reality.
“Just last week a mart that was operating in the State for 51 years and providing a service in Co Laois closed down because its premiums had increased for four consecutive years.”
Rural lifeblood
Doherty said marts were the lifeblood of rural communities and that it had been clear for some time they were under serious pressure as a result of increasing insurance costs.
He also raised the issue during Leader’s Questions when he asked An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to acknowledge that the Government’s plan to lower insurance premiums was not working.
He asked An Toaiseach to ensure Minister D’Arcy met with mart managers and operators to listen to their concerns and to the proposals they are making.
Engagement
In response, Varadkar said the Government was very aware of the impact of increasing insurance costs on marts.
He said there had a long-standing engagement with the industry, the Central Bank and the Courts Service on the issue.
Sighting the plateauing of health insurance costs and a decrease in car insurance costs since 2016 he said the engagement was showing good results.
“I appreciate that the cost of public liability insurance is still a problem.
"We will continue to work with the various groups to try to bring costs down,” Varadkar concluded.
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