Results 501-520 of 4,119 for speaker:Martin Browne

Committee on Public Petitions: Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Martin Browne: The witnesses know and we know that they will not get 1,000. It has been thrown out the whole time they need to get 1,000, but it is not going to happen. There are 320 people who have tried to bring that scheme together. For it to be viable, they need 1,000. Is there something that can be done for people in private residences and businesses? We have heard it here that they cannot sell or...

Committee on Public Petitions: Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Martin Browne: It is right that Insurance Ireland has a duty of care to its members, but it is also taking premiums off people.

Committee on Public Petitions: Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Martin Browne: Some properties have no fire or open fire or they have heat pumps. There is no reduction in people's premiums where there is no risk of sparks going up the flue. Surely, the insurance companies have a responsibility to those kinds of people and premiums should be coming down. Coming back to something Ms Murdock said earlier in the opening statement, there is a greater risk to "rural...

Committee on Public Petitions: Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Martin Browne: Where is that feedback from?

Committee on Public Petitions: Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Martin Browne: I have done a lot of work with the Cashel fire brigade. I would imagine that over the last 30 years, machinery and the whole lot has improved drastically. As I said, the houses are the same distance from Cashel town as they were 30 years ago. I cannot make out why it is suddenly a greater risk or greater distance to get out with the new machinery they have.

Committee on Public Petitions: Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Martin Browne: The retained firefighters have to respond within five minutes but they can only work within 2 km from the middle of the town. Same as it always was. I think that is a complete red herring as an excuse.

Committee on Public Petitions: Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Martin Browne: There are just a couple of things I would like to raise. Ms Murdock spoke about new capacity coming into Ireland. What the petitioners have witnessed is that that is not the case, apart from one particular insurer that has traditionally provided insurance to thatched properties but is no longer taking on new clients and for any new additions it is asking for astronomical prices. Can Ms...

Committee on Public Petitions: Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Martin Browne: None of us want to see anybody going out of business. There are very few of them we can name that went out of business but the profits, when companies are making profits, are astronomical. There must be some bit of give back at some stage.

Committee on Public Petitions: Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Martin Browne: We are still paying it.

Committee on Public Petitions: Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Martin Browne: I would ask for each of the witnesses' views on the interpretation of the Solvency II directive.

Committee on Public Petitions: Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Martin Browne: I have no doubt we will be returning to it. We need to keep doing what we can as a committee to get this resolved because from the word go, from when the petition came in, this is all part of our heritage. If we start losing it, it is going to be a massive loss to the country. I would say that is a bigger risk to our economy than insurance companies having a small bit of a loss. The...

Committee on Public Petitions: Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Martin Browne: For any stakeholders with thatched properties looking in on this, what could Ms Murdock say to them to allay their fears that their business might go down because they cannot get insurance, or that they would have to take the thatch off their family home because they cannot get insurance? We have heard it from petitioners. What could Ms Murdock say to them?

Committee on Public Petitions: Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Martin Browne: The same question is for the Alliance for Insurance Reform.

Committee on Public Petitions: Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Martin Browne: On behalf of the committee, I thank both organisations for coming in. It has been informative and I have no doubt we will be back again, and either the witnesses or someone else in the sector will be back in front of this committee. We will now suspend the meeting to allow witnesses to leave the room.

Committee on Public Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (30 Nov 2023)

Martin Browne: We are resuming in public session. We have six petitions for consideration today. No. P00008/23 is a petition to stop legal netting of Atlantic salmon in Castlemaine Harbour from Mr. Daniel Brosnan. At the committee's meeting on 15 July, it was agreed by the committee that the correspondence from the inland fisheries division of the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications...

Committee on Public Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (30 Nov 2023)

Martin Browne: I thank the members of the secretariat who do Trojan work on our behalf.

Capital Supply Service and Purpose Report Bill 2023: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members] (29 Nov 2023)

Martin Browne: I also welcome the opportunity to discuss the Bill and thank Deputy Shanahan and the Regional Group for bringing it the House. It deals with transparency and how public money is used, what funding is distributed for capital projects and how that funding is used. It includes a requirement that each Minister will report annually on large capital expenditure in his or her Department five years...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (29 Nov 2023)

Martin Browne: 130. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he is aware that childcare providers are being asked to produce separate sets of accounts to meet the requirements of Tusla and Pobal as set out in legislation; and if he plans to simplify the process for providers. [52667/23]

Neutrality: Motion [Private Members] (28 Nov 2023)

Martin Browne: There is no doubt that many people here and across the country were stunned last week when the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs announced his intention to abolish the triple lock. I am sure that many of the Tánaiste's own party members were also shocked at the revelation, given that the Fianna Fáil 2020 general election manifesto gave a commitment to fully maintaining...

Policing, Protests and Public Order: Statements (28 Nov 2023)

Martin Browne: Right now, a five-year-old girl is fighting for her life. I know everyone here has that young girl, her family and the other children in Thursday’s attacks at the front of their minds. We thank those who stopped the attack. What happened afterwards on Thursday evening should not have occurred. Those who took part represent only a small minority. Control of the situation was...