Rose Conway-Walsh on rising home insurance and pyrite scandal
Rose Conway-Walsh challenged the minister over soaring home insurance costs and the impact of defective concrete blocks, saying families are being forced to under‑insure or go without cover. She urged the state to hold insurers to account and called for a full public inquiry into the defective concrete block (pyrite) scandal.
Rising home insurance costs
She said runaway house prices have been accompanied by rising home insurance, pushing struggling families to under‑insure or forgo insurance entirely and leaving them exposed to financial risk.
Storm Owen and state payouts
She pointed to the impact of Storm Owen, noting that families without insurance relied on the state humanitarian assistance scheme and that payouts from that scheme already totalled $13.6 million.
Defective concrete block - pyrite scandal
Speaking about her constituency in Mayo, she highlighted the defective concrete block (pyrite) scandal where the defect was not covered by some policies. Many homeowners who thought they were fully insured are instead dependent on the state defective concrete block scheme, which she described as mired in controversy and payout delays.
Calls for accountability and inquiry
She urged the minister and government to act, saying insurers must be held to account and repeating the call for a full public inquiry. She recalled ongoing efforts, including work by Pierce Doherty in opposition, and said families and workers need a break from unaffordable insurance costs.
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Minister, it seems desperately unfair that the runaway house prices across the state have led to an increase in home insurance. Home insurance is becoming a real, real problem, meaning that some of the struggling families opt to under-insure their home or to go without insurance altogether. The consequences of families taking a chance and foregoing on home insurance played out earlier this year when Storm Owen arrived on our shores. Families without insurance were left relying on the state to step in and cover the cost of storm damage, where payouts from the humanitarian assistance scheme from Storm Owen already totaled $13.6 million. So we end up paying one way or the other, Minister, and that just is not on if people cannot afford home insurance. Now, for those that could afford home insurance, in my constituency of Mayo, one of the most counties affected by the defective concrete block scandal, the pyrite scandal, this defect wasn't even covered in their policies. And so they must also rely on the state assistance under the defective concrete block scheme to mire in controversy and payout delays for applicants. Minister, for so long now, I don't know, since I started in the Shannad, I know Pierce Doherty at that time was leading from the opposition in trying to tackle the cost of insurance. And we have talked about it and talked about it. And we have presented the solutions to government and told them what needed to be done across the board. And we're in a situation here where we're discussing this again today. We're discussing how families who are really, really struggling are being ripped off. They are being ripped off. Minister, it is time to get those prices under control. And it is time to give these workers and families a break. They cannot do that if they are being asked to pay insurance. And I just have to go back to the defective concrete block situation and why we need a full public inquiry into what has happened there. You know, all of these people had their homes insured. They had everything insured. So you had engineers being insured. You have all of everything, insurance all around. Not one of those insurance companies have paid out. And the government has not held them to account. It is time to hold the insurance companies to account. Thank you, Deputy. Thank you, Deputy.
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