New Insurance Reform legislation comes into effect

Minister McEntee recently commenced legislation which amends the Occupiers Liability Act, 1995.

The amendments update duty of care legislation, striking the right balance between ensuring that businesses, community groups and organisers of events fulfil their duty of care responsibilities, while acknowledging the importance of personal responsibility of visitors, recreational users and trespassers.

These legislative updates contribute to the ongoing work on Insurance Reform, one of the government’s key priorities.

The amendments, building on a Review Paper prepared by the Department of Justice in February 2021, contain four key developments:

• they will reflect in primary legislation a number of recent court decisions which rebalance the duty of care owed by occupiers to visitors and recreational users
• they change the standard to clarify that when the occupier of a property has acted with reckless disregard for a recreational user or trespasser, the standard of reckless disregard rather than that of reasonable grounds should apply in relation to any consideration of liability
• they limit the circumstances in which a court can impose liability on the occupier of a premises where a person has entered onto premises for the purpose of committing an offence
• they allow for a broader circumstance where it can be shown that a visitor or recreational user has voluntarily assumed a risk

These reforms to the Duty of Care is an important step in reducing personal injury costs for insurance companies.

Minister McEntee commences reformed Duty of Care legislation as key element of insurance reform