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“I’M A MUM of two small children so if I am negligent in any way, of course, people have a right of recourse,” said Linda Murray, of Huckleberry’s Den, in Navan. “But don’t claim from a business because your child was there having fun and tripped or fell which can happen anywhere.”
Murray was reacting to the threat of closure to her own play centre because of spiralling insurance costs on foot of claims. 12 people are employed there.
What she said resonates with me because as a working mother of two, I know what it’s like trying to rear a family and run a business at the same time.
It’s tough. Juggling both is not without headaches. And when your business is threatened, so is your livelihood – and that of your children’s.
But there’s a deeper resonance, two of my children ended up receiving medical treatment after a fall at two separate play centres. Did I sue the play centres?
No, I did not – and nor did it enter my head for a minute to do so.
Why? Because children fall. That’s what they do.
The play centres were in no way at fault, on the contrary, they were facilitating my kids in having such a good time; they became excitable and weren’t watching where they were going.
Kids fall, it can happen anywhere, it happens at home and it happens at Granny’s.Do we sue the pants off Granny? Of course, we don’t.
That would be like cutting off our nose to spite our face because Granny is oftentimes the unpaid childminder.
But yet some people feel entitled to file a claim against a play centre, putting someone else’s livelihood at risk because it’s a business and sure won’t the insurance company shell out?
Yes, the insurance company may shell out but at a heavy price to the business and in this case play centres.
In Navan town alone the problem has reached a crisis point. Huckleberry’s Den has seen their insurance premium jump from €2,500 to €16,500 in just five years while another local play centre in Navan, LoLoTown has already closed as a result of the premium hikes.
Is this ridiculous situation being replicated in towns all around Ireland?
No one is arguing that in legitimate cases parents shouldn’t be allowed to file injurious claims but we’re not talking about finding a piece of glass in little Johnny’s pizza.
We’re talking about superficial injuries like cuts, scrapes and bruises that are grossly exaggerated to gain maximum pay-out.
Quick healing injuries that are so blown out of proportion, falsely categorised to be deemed life-changing and having long term physiological and psychological effects.
We are all losers here. Mothers like me who rely gratefully on play centres for hosting birthday parties out of the home. New mothers who use play centres as a social outlet for mixing with other mothers.
Or fathers looking for somewhere dry and warm to take his kids on a winter day off.
And the biggest losers are the children. Not just for the obvious reason, that their favourite place of play with their friends is no more.
Worse than that their innocent world has been interrupted by cynicism and opportunist greed, traits that stunt the mind.
‘If you want a child’s mind to grow, you must first plant a seed’ – healthy seeds, culturing accountability, a sense of community and consideration for others.
It is time to stand up to the growing scourge of claims culture in our society, we need to radically overhaul the entire legal framework that facilitates massive claims for exaggerated injuries.
If we don’t move soon, it is only a matter of time until someone does try to take a claim against Granny!
Grace Vaughan is a mother and writer, who lives in Co Meath.
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Current national debt is circa €190B. Is Noonan giving up on getting the ECB to finance the Bank debt and get it deducted from the €190B. This was one of FG’s election promises. The real national debt figure is probably close to €500B if we were to accrue all PRSI pension liabilities. Yesterday’s article in the Sunday Times is frightening on this.
Why would they include future liabilities? At that rate you could bring future expected revenue into the equation!
Because as from 2017, we have to account for unfunded liabilities to give a true picture of national debt. Just as companies have had to do for years. There’s no real difference between a bond you have to repay and a pension you’re committed to paying, except in accounting terms.
Well said. Couldn’t have put it better myself.
Where will the money to fund these early repayments come from ? I know it’s a stupid question but does anyone know the answer ?
Maurice the minister is doing lip service for the next election. Europe is in receivership and has told Noonan no to what you have noted. It would be nice but our politician didn’t talk hard they were the good boys in the class. So Europe expects them to keep paying.
They will be coming from 15 year loans/bond issues so the banks will be lending this money to repay them back early.
Wait ’til Ireland doesn’t get the retroactive bank recapitalization.
And when – not if – new international corporate tax rules take effect from 2016 (OECD), at least €50 billion, or half the annual value of services exports will be vapourized.
Plus, some multi-nationals have also said they will leave when that happens i.e. when they have to start paying a lot more corporation tax back home on top of high wages in Ireland.
Hold on to your tin hats.
Emily
Perhaps now the penny might drop when we consider the point John Bruton was making when discussing such liabilities recently.!
He was massively abused on this site when his opinion about defaulting by the State on pensions etc when the alternative was bankruptcy .
How quickly we shoot the messenger in Ireland rather than trying to deal with realities.
Still think that a debt deal will have to be done.
The EU live in a fantasy world where real economic reality is denied and put on long finger.
They blew their chance to resolve the Euro crisis.
That would apply to unfunded civil service pensions but not to PRSI pensions. That liability is subject to year by year legislation and, in theory, could be reduced or abolished by a new Finance Act. It won’t happen of course, but the possibilty means that it is not a reckonable long term debt.
What do you mean give up, they didn’t even ask for feck sake
ohhh I feel another seismic shift coming on….
Property tax
Water charges
USC
….any if these terms familiar to you????
No financial penalty for paying off loans early. Ha ha. We should be getting a discount for paying early.
Don’t get into finance. I can tell by this one comment that it’s not for you.
We should never have had them in the first place…ffs
Getting a bit annoyed with this sycophantic attitude the government has with Europe.
What, you feel no surge of patriotic pride when our minister begs the faceless financiers to kindly allow us to give us a big ball of cash?
* you a big ball of cash *
The Germans will never forgive us for the Hypo/DEPFA mess.
Peter.
What a brain and what a genius. Please tell us how yo can save the State a cool three hundred and seventy five million Euro a year as proposed by Minister Noonan so that we don’t have to politely ask our creditors for agreement to vary the terms of our Bailout.
You must be a whizz with figures and I envy the confidence with which you stride across these pages.
I showed your comments to a colleague and I could see straight away that he misunderstands you. In tact what he said about you couldn’t be printed here but all great men Peter suffer from such slingshots!
@Rodgers as per usual your wisdom knows no bounds you and your comments are wasted on the journal.
Its time you took up your true vocation and that in my humble oppinion is that of chief Fine Gael ass wipe.
Paul
Thanks! Your opinion in your own words is indeed humble and it is quite clear that you never aspired beyond that though instinct probably told you that there was enough material in you to heft a Sinn Fein shovel but you would need to be told what to do after that.
The world needs simple folk Paul and at least you have recognised that!
Well said Paul Mc. When Rodgers is in the company of Edna its like a scene from the film The Human Centipede.
hows life as the chief arse kisser and male cheer leader to enda and his brigade richard cos clearly you are one of them patriots big nose hogan was on about
So Richard hows that seismic shift of Enda the statesman performing these days?
Kerry
Whaaaaaaaaat?
When the cost of Noonan’s very generous minster’s pension to which he does not contribute a cent is added to the debt it could be the last straw that breaks the taxpayer’s back.
Wow, we are so lucky.
Looking at the returns, it is all rosy for Noonan – revenue’s new mantra is to suck every last penny of savings and profit out of small business and their employees and to present it as a gift to some unelected ex-politicians and expect a pat on his obnoxious head.
“Look what I brought you – someone else’s debt, maybe I’ve ruined a few small businesses and taxed earnings and savings from Irish people to the hilt, but as long as we’re all happy let’s make this look like good news to the ‘media’ – you’ll print it like that, you property funded news website”…
At the end of the 1st 1/4 2008 this country was heading towards a deficit of 22bn euros. In d last 5 yrs we have undertaken a huge social experimenr in how to balance d books without strikes/riots etc and we have nearly made it. There is huge credit due to fg and lab and enormous credit due to d dept of finance and public expenditure.
Why should lab and fg get any credit. Ff told them what to do before they got booted out.
How is it any credit to them, it’s a credit to the irish people not the politicians. The politicians didn’t stop riots they hid away in Leinster house and quietly stripped us of our pride and dignity and left most of us demoralised and close to bankruptcy. Suicides are through the roof, let’s see these magnificent politicians of yours deal with that elephant in the roof. Crime.? It’s bandit country in ireland again, those shower deserve no credit for anything.
The simple fact if the matter is that this country of 4.5million people withdrew over 16bn from circulation over the past 5 years. Politicans put their names forward as spokespeople for that. You didnt. You come on forums and talk abt how bad it is. Pokiticans arent stupid or even greedy anymore. They all know the suicide numbers, the high taxes, the unemployment but they still put their names forward. You didnt. it is easier spew vitriol from d sidelines
More bad news for the Shinners. Tax take up. Ahead of forecast.
Where are the Shinners anyway?
I suppose it’s hard for them to spin positives into negatives. Especially when there’s an election coming up. Just doesn’t appeal to voters.
But it’s all they have.
so anyone that has a different opinion to them muppets in power are shinners………explains the mental state of the cheerleaders for the likes of the FG/LB/FF crowd on hear…..deluded one trick ponies who believe anything that comes out of the lot in the dail
Election spew has started
” Noonan ” and ” charm ” in the same sentence !! . It is just so wrong, Jack Horgan-Jones. Just so, so wrong.
Will Mr Noonan be dancing suggestively for Mario Draghi et al as well?
Charm?? God help Europe…
Jam?………………………………..
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NEVER!
Why was my two comments deleted?
Just in time for the general election!
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