News
Lorry driver forced off the road by €2,500 insurance hike
A Galway lorry driver has been forced off the road because of a €2,500 overnight hike in his insurance bill, the Dáil has been told.
The man’s plight was highlighted by Galway West Independent TD Noel Grealish during a debate on a motion calling for the establishment of a task force to look into the soaring cost of insurance in Ireland.
He told how the lorry driver in question – with a clean licence and who never had an accident – saw his insurance bill jump from €1,320 last year to €3,847 this year.
“He is just not in a position to pay it. This individual has children at school, but the lorry is parked up because he cannot drive it. He is in the process of trying to raise the money somewhere to pay for the insurance.
“We priced around with a number of insurance companies but they will not give him a quote. This is what is happening. Is it that these insurance companies are operating a cartel or something? I believe they are playing to their shareholders and maximising their profits.
“Unfortunately, many of these insurance companies are multinational companies, so I do not know if the Government can force them to bring down their prices,” said Deputy Grealish.
The Galway TD recalled how in 2002, the then Tánaiste, Mary Harney, introduced the Personal Injuries Assessment Board, which brought down insurance costs in the following years.
And he pointed out that today, it was not just car insurance that had increased, with household and business insurance also going up.
“This morning, I rang five business people in Galway. Their insurance costs have increased in the past two to three years by between 20% and 50%.
“In one company alone, there was a €70,000 increase in the insurance costs for a major factory. The owner told me he will have to let staff go if insurance costs continue to increase.”
Deputy Grealish claimed that soaring motor insurance costs had resulted in some young drivers taking to the road without insurance cover and pleaded with them not to.
“They might buy a car for between €2,000 and €3,000 and the first insurance premium could be €4,000 to €5,000,” he said.
On the question the refusal of insurance companies to renew cover for houses which have been flooded in the past, he warned that a review being undertaken to try and deal with the issue would produce no solution unless it had teeth.
He also predicted that businesses and shops would close because the costs had gone through the roof.
“I ask and plead with the Government to ensure that if it does something regarding insurance, it is given some sort of teeth and will force insurance companies into action.
“Some members have spoken about setting up a national insurance company run by the Government. I do not believe that is the answer, but something has to be done to ensure premiums are reduced. I hope that following this motion something will be done,” added Deputy Grealish.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
On the eve of completing his 150th marathon, an odyssey that has taken him across 53 countries, Loughrea’s Marathon Man has announced that he is planning to hang up his running shoes.
But not before Jarlath Fitzgerald completes another ten races, making it 160 marathons on the occasion of his 60th birthday.
“I want to draw the line in 2026. I turn 57 in October and when I reach 60 it’s the finishing line. The longer races are taking it out of me. I did 20 miles there two weeks ago and didn’t feel good. It’s getting harder,” he reveals.
“I’ve arthritis in both hips and there’s wear and tear in the knees.”
We speak as he is about to head out for a run before his shift in Supervalu Loughrea. Despite his physical complaints, he still clocks up 30 miles every second week and generally runs four days a week.
Jarlath receives injections to his left hip to keep the pain at bay while running on the road.
To give his joints a break, during the winter he runs cross country and often does a five-mile trek around Kylebrack Wood.
He is planning on running his 150th marathon in Cork on June 4, where a group of 20 made up of work colleagues, friends and running mates from Loughrea Athletics Club will join him.
Some are doing the 10k, others are doing the half marathon, but all will be there on the finishing line to cheer him on in the phenomenal achievement.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
From the Galway City Tribune – An impassioned plea for a ‘masterplan’ that would guide Galway City into the future has been made in the Dáil. Galway West TD Catherine Connolly stated this week that there needed to be an all-inclusive approach with “vision and leadership” in order to build a sustainable city.
Deputy Connolly spoke at length at the crisis surrounding traffic and housing in Galway city and said that not all of the blame could be laid at the door of the local authority.
She said that her preference would be the provision of light rail as the main form of public transport, but that this would have to be driven by the government.
“I sat on the local council for 17 years and despaired at all of the solutions going down one road, metaphorically and literally. In 2005 we put Park & Ride into the development plan, but that has not been rolled out. A 2016 transport strategy was outdated at the time and still has not been updated.
“Due to the housing crisis in the city, a task force was set up in 2019. Not a single report or analysis has been published on the cause of the crisis,” added Deputy Connolly.
She then referred to a report from the Land Development Agency (LDA) that identified lands suitable for the provision of housing. But she said that two-thirds of these had significant problems and a large portion was in Merlin Park University Hospital which, she said, would never have housing built on it.
In response, Minister Simon Harris spoke of the continuing job investment in the city and also in higher education, which is his portfolio.
But turning his attention to traffic congestion, he accepted that there were “real issues” when it came to transport, mobility and accessibility around Galway.
“We share the view that we need a Park & Ride facility and I understand there are also Bus Connects plans.
“I also suggest that the City Council reflect on her comments. I am proud to be in a Government that is providing unparalleled levels of investment to local authorities and unparalleled opportunities for local authorities to draw down,” he said.
Then Minister Harris referred to the controversial Galway City Outer Ring Road which he said was “struck down by An Bord Pleanála”, despite a lot of energy having been put into that project.
However, Deputy Connolly picked up on this and pointed out that An Bord Pleanála did not say ‘No’ to the ring road.
“The High Court said ‘No’ to the ring road because An Bord Pleanála acknowledged it failed utterly to consider climate change and our climate change obligations.
“That tells us something about An Bord Pleanála and the management that submitted such a plan.”
In the end, Minister Harris agreed that there needed to be a masterplan for Galway City.
“I suggest it is for the local authority to come up with a vision and then work with the Government to try to fund and implement that.”
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
