Jan 8, 2021
Following reports that “A court has struck out the case against a father-of-two who was accused of fraud over a €60,000 road accident injury claim”, “after Dublin District Court heard a book of evidence was not ready” the Alliance for Insurance Reform has accused the State of not taking insurance fraud seriously .
Eoin McCambridge, managing director of McCambridge’s of Galway and director of the Alliance said “Our members regularly encounter insurance fraud. Fraudulent and exaggerated insurance claims have a profound impact on the businesses and services targeted and yet there are virtually no prosecutions for this crime, with fraudsters regularly having their unsustainable claims dismissed but walking away scot-free to claim another day. Yesterday we saw a rare prosecution collapse because the book of evidence was not ready. It is clear that the State is not taking this crime seriously.”
Peter Boland, Director of the Alliance said “Four years after the Cost of Insurance Working Group first addressed this issue and despite a clear commitment from An Garda Síochána in 2019 to a division-led approach, we are no closer today to having a formal Garda response to insurance fraud. As a matter of urgency, Government must ensure the immediate establishment a Garda insurance fraud unit to show some level of commitment to resolving this problem. Further reports and studies are no longer acceptable in addressing this issue.”
ENDS
For further details contact:
Peter Boland
Jan 7, 2021
We are pleased to announce that the Federation of Irish Sport Volunteers in Sport Awards supported by EBS will take place virtually next week. The ceremony, which serves to highlight, recognise and celebrate the work of our many sport volunteers in Ireland during the year 2020, will be streamed live over three evenings next week.
The ceremony details are as follows:
Tuesday 12th January @7pm – Leinster County Winners & Special Recognition of Daingean GAA
Wednesday 13th January @ 7pm – Munster and Connacht County Winners & Special Recognition of Pat Hooper
Thursday 14th January @ 7pm – Ulster County Winners & Outstanding Achievement Recipient
All three evenings will be streamed live at the below link and across the Federation of Irish Sport Facebook page. We will also have live updates across all of our social channels. This is a flagship event in the Federation of Irish Sport calendar and is a great opportunity to recognise the work of a selection of the thousands of volunteers who volunteer for sport and physical activity each week all around Ireland. If you’d like to join us in celebrating our winners you can do so at the below link and you can get involved in the conversation on social media using #DedicatedToTheDedicated #VolunteerHeroes. Please also feel free to share the link with any members of the sporting community who may wish to tune in to the celebration of our fantastic volunteers.
Live Link – Volunteers in Sport Awards Live
If you cannot join us live, don’t worry! We will have all three evenings available to re-watch at the following link from Friday 15th January so you can tune in in your own time.
Re-watch Link – Volunteers in Sport Awards
For more information on the Volunteers in Sport Awards please visit www.volunteersinsport.com
We look forward to three evenings of celebration and appreciation of our unsung heroes next week and to continuing our support of sporting volunteers in all codes and counties again in late 2021.
Jan 5, 2021
The Alliance for Insurance Reform has claimed that the insurance crisis can be sorted in 2021 but only if 5 key actions are fully completed.
Eoin McCambridge, managing director of McCambridge’s of Galway and director of the Alliance said “Nothing the Government has done so far has applied any downward pressure on insurance premiums and for charities, community and voluntary groups, sports and cultural organisations and SMEs, insurance has been unsustainably expensive now for over 5 years. If Government expects Ireland to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic through SMEs, or for Irish society as a whole to recover through voluntary and community groups, then insurance must and can be sorted in 2021.”
Peter Boland, Director of the Alliance said “ In the last 4 years we have had the Oireachtas Finance Committee Report on Insurance Costs, two Cost of Insurance Working Group (CIWG) reports and 11 CIWG Updates; the reports of the Personal Injuries Commission, two National Claims Information Database reports from the Central Bank, the CCPC Market Study on Liability Insurance and the Government’s Action Plan on Insurance Reform. What is abundantly clear from these is that if insurance costs are to be brought under control, there are 5 key issues that must be actioned this year:
- General damages for minor injuries must be dramatically reduced to reflect international norms and norms already established by the Court of Appeal: we await the new personal injuries guidelines to be adopted and published by the Judicial Council, due by 31st July of this year at the latest. But we have no idea what the new guidelines will look like or when we will get to see them, if at all, before they are adopted by the Courts.
- Redefine and re-balance the “common duty of care” to require occupiers to take a duty of care that is reasonable, practical and proportionate: we await action from the Minister for Justice that will address the situation where many policyholders find themselves 100% liable for accidents regardless of the circumstances.
- Establish a formal Garda response to insurance fraud: 4 years after the Cost of Insurance Working Group first addressed this issue and despite commitments from An Garda Síochána in 2019 to a division-led approach, we are no closer to having a formal Garda response to insurance fraud.
- Reform of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board: If PIAB is not radically reformed, it will be irrelevant within a decade and the compensation of people injured due to the negligence of others will be a process managed and controlled by the legal profession, for the benefit of the legal profession, with dire consequences for the cost and availability of insurance cover in Ireland. We await urgent proposals for reform and enhancement of PIAB from Minister of State Robert Troy.
- Produce a schedule of forecast reductions for reforms: we need commitments from the insurance industry that all the reforms being worked on will actually lead to substantial reductions in insurance costs. We await an assessment of the expected impact on premium levels of the reforms being introduced, from Minister of State Sean Fleming.
“There are 66 actions in the Government’s Action Plan on Insurance Reform, but unless these 5 issues are addressed this year, then 2021 will go down as the year insurance could have been sorted, but wasn’t.”
ENDS
For further details contact: contact@insurancereform.ie
Dec 17, 2020
Sport Ireland
Media Release
17th December 2020
Progress towards Gender Balance on Boards – Leadership Composition Snapshot (2nd Update)
In line with its Policy on Women in Sport, Sport Ireland is committed to publishing a biannual snapshot of female representation on the boards of funded National Governing Bodies of Sport.
Leadership and Governance is one of the four key strategic areas on which the Sport Ireland Policy on Women in Sport is built, along with Coaching & Officiating, Visibility and Active Participation.
In this regard, a key objective of the Leadership and Governance target area is to progress towards greater gender balance in board membership of funded bodies. The second objective is to provide a pathway for women aspiring to become leaders of funded bodies.
The first update, published in March 2020, showed that females make up an average of 29% of boards across funded National Governing Bodies. This was an increase from 24% at when the Sport Ireland Policy on Women in Sport was published in 2019.
The second snapshot published today shows that this figure has remained consistent; females currently account for 29% of board members.
As we start to look at female representation across all funded bodies, figures from the Federation of Irish Sport, Olympic Federation of Ireland and Paralympics Ireland have been included in this update.
Commenting on the publication of the statistics, Chair of Sport Ireland’s Women in Sport Steering Committee, Lynne Cantwell, said: “The overall representation of females on boards across the sector has remained consistent this year, however there have been a number of notable developments. Most recently, the Olympic Federation of Ireland has achieved gender balance on its board following its recent AGM. Sport Ireland is also seeing strong uptake from females across the range of service offered to both board members and staff among funded organisations. In particular, the Level 9 Certificate in Governance has been an excellent addition to the offering. The Women in Sport Steering group will continue to work with all stakeholders to support the increase in female representation at board level.
Action 32 of the Government’s National Sports Policy 2018-2027 tasks National Governing Bodies with developing equality action plans and setting gender diversity targets.
Sport Ireland Director of Participation and Ethics, Dr Una May, commented: “As part of Sport Ireland’s responsibilities under the National Sport Policy, we are monitoring progress and providing periodical public updates on the progress of our funded bodies towards gender diversity, in particular the make-up of boards. The launch this week of a new board recruitment service by the Federation of Irish Sport, with support from Sport Ireland, for National Governing Bodies and Local Sports Partnerships is a timely development. This is a positive for both potential board members, who will have the opportunity to put themselves forward for arising vacancies, and organisations, that will have a list of suitably qualified candidates to select from. Sport Ireland will continue to provide training and development opportunities for women as part of our strategic vision of a sector operating to the highest standards of governance and accountability.
As well as acknowledging the board composition of funded bodies, Sport Ireland is also monitoring the proportion of women in leadership positions within funded bodies. At present, female CEOs represent 28% of the total CEOs in NGBs (including the Federation of Irish Sport, Olympic Federation and Paralympics Ireland). Ten NGBs also have female Presidents.
Sport Ireland Women in Sport Lead, Nora Stapleton, added: “The work of the Sport Ireland Policy on Women in Sport and Women in Sport Programme invests in female leadership capacity, increases availability of skilled Female Board members and guides Governance best practice that supports gender equity. Sport Ireland’s M-Power Mentoring Programme continues to support females in the sports sector, while we are very satisfied with the leadership programmes being developed by the NGBs and LSPs.
Numerous NGBs delivered, and/or continue to deliver, excellent Women in Sport Leadership programmes for their members. Canoeing Ireland saw their ‘Bridge the Gap’ programme culminate recently with 35 female ambassadors taking part. Athletics Ireland, the IRFU and LGFA continue to roll out leadership programmes for their female volunteers, while up to 19 NGBs have provided opportunities for their female leaders to join a leadership programme coordinated by Swim Ireland. The programme continues to roll out across the sector due to demand and is now entering its fourth instalment.
Sport Ireland is also today launching its new Gender Diversity on Boards Toolkit. The resource comes in two parts, the first draws on International and Irish research to outline the business case for more gender diverse boards, while the second part contains a toolkit with actions that sports can implement within their organisation.
Commenting on the resource, Nora Stapleton added: “In order to support sporting bodies, Sport Ireland, with the help of expert consultants Leading Sport, have developed a resource that can be utilised by sports leaders in order to provide guidance on the recruitment and retention of women on boards. The benefits of diverse boards is widely accepted and this toolkit can help NGBs, LSPs and other funded bodies on their journey of improving, and or maintaining, gender diversity on their board”.
The resource can be downloaded from the Sport Ireland website. Sports leaders will also have an opportunity to attend a webinar in the New Year whereby they will be introduced to the toolkit, the background research and how the information might be useful within their own organisation.
Board Representation
The information contained within this update has been provided by National Governing Bodies, Local Sports Partnerships and other funded bodies through the Core Grant Application process or via direct contact in November 2020. It is encouraging to note that 32 sporting bodies) have achieved a target of at least 30% females on their board. This is up from 24 NGBs in March of this year. While 13 NGBs still report 10% or less females on their boards, it’s positive to note that this has reduced from 20 NGBs in 2019.
The Local Sports Partnerships also paint a positive picture with an overall 37% females on boards. 19 LSP Boards have obtained a minimum standard of 30% while 10 LSPs are under that. It is very encouraging to note that the leadership of the LSPs shows a positive gender split with females making up 59% of Coordinator roles. Females also account for 21% of chairperson roles on LSP Boards.
NGBs who have obtained 30% females on their board
| NGB |
% of Women on Board |
| Angling Council of Ireland |
33% |
| Basketball Ireland |
43% |
| Baton Twirling Sport Association of Ireland |
80% |
| Cycling Ireland |
30% |
| Deaf Sports Ireland |
33% |
| Federation of Irish Sport |
36% |
| Fencing Ireland |
50% |
| Golf Ireland (Transition Board) |
44% |
| Gymnastics Ireland |
44% |
| Horse Sport Ireland |
38% |
| Irish Orienteering Association |
33% |
| Irish Sailing Association |
40% |
| Irish Squash |
31% |
| Irish Taekwondo Union |
33% |
| Irish Wheelchair Association Sport |
57% |
| Ladies Gaelic Football Association |
57% |
| Motor Cycling Ireland |
50% |
| Mountaineering Ireland |
42% |
| National Community Games |
60% |
| ONAKAI |
42% |
| Rowing Ireland |
31% |
| Rugby League Ireland |
30% |
| Special Olympics Ireland |
46% |
| Speleological Union of Ireland |
30% |
| Student Sport Ireland |
50% |
| Swim Ireland |
40% |
| The Camogie Association |
77% |
| Triathlon Ireland |
33% |
| Volleyball Ireland |
71% |
| Table Tennis Ireland |
40% |
| Olympic Federation of Ireland |
50% |
| Paralympics Ireland |
56% |
NGBs who have yet to reach 30%
| NGB |
% of Women on Board |
| American Football Ireland |
0% |
| Archery Ireland |
20% |
| Athletics Ireland |
25% |
| Badminton Ireland |
25% |
| Bol Chumann na hÉireann |
13% |
| Bowling League of Ireland |
11% |
| Canoeing Ireland |
22% |
| Cricket Ireland |
17% |
| Croquet Association of Ireland |
29% |
| Football Association of Ireland |
25% |
| GAA Handball Ireland |
8% |
| Gaelic Athletic Association |
11% |
| Hockey Ireland |
25% |
| Horseshoe Pitchers Association of Ireland |
0% |
| Irish Amateur Wrestling Association |
8% |
| Irish Athletic Boxing Association |
0% |
| Irish Clay Target Shooting Association |
10% |
| Irish Ice Hockey Association of Ireland |
20% |
| Irish Judo Association |
29% |
| Irish Martial Arts Commission |
26% |
| Irish Olympic Handball Association |
14% |
| Irish Rugby Football Union |
8% |
| Irish Surfing Association |
17% |
| Irish Tenpin Bowling Association |
25% |
| Irish Underwater Council |
27% |
| Irish Waterski & Wakeboard Federation |
0% |
| Motor Sport Ireland |
0% |
| Pitch and Putt Ireland |
9% |
| Racquetball Association of Ireland |
25% |
| Snooker & Billiards Ireland |
0% |
| Tennis Ireland |
29% |
| Tug of War Ireland |
20% |
| Vision Sports Ireland |
0% |
| Weightlifting Ireland |
14% |
NGB’s with 10% or less females on their board
| NGB |
% of Women on Board |
| GAA Handball Ireland |
8% |
| American Football Ireland |
0% |
| Horseshoe Pitchers Association of Ireland |
0% |
| Irish Amateur Wrestling Association |
8% |
| Bol Chumann na hÉireann |
0% |
| Irish Athletic Boxing Association |
0% |
| Irish Clay Target Shooting Association |
10% |
| Irish Rugby Football Union |
8% |
| Irish Waterski & Wakeboard Federation |
0% |
| Motor Sport Ireland |
0% |
| Pitch and Putt Ireland |
9% |
| Snooker & Billiards Ireland |
0% |
| Vision Sports Ireland |
0% |
Boards of Local Sports Partnerships
| LSP |
% of Women on Board |
| Roscommon |
67% |
| Wexford |
67% |
| Limerick |
63% |
| Dún Laoghaire Rathdown |
53% |
| Leitrim |
50% |
| Meath |
50% |
| Wicklow |
50% |
| Sligo |
47% |
| Laois |
46% |
| Mayo |
44% |
| Carlow |
42% |
| Kilkenny |
42% |
| Kerry |
39% |
| Total |
37% |
| Donegal |
33% |
| Galway |
33% |
| Kildare |
33% |
| Longford |
33% |
| Louth |
33% |
| South Dublin |
31% |
| Dublin City |
29% |
| Westmeath |
29% |
| Fingal |
27% |
| Offaly |
26% |
| Tipperary |
25% |
| Waterford |
21% |
| Monaghan |
20% |
| Cavan |
19% |
| Cork |
18% |
| Clare |
14% |
Dec 15, 2020
- The service will be available to National Governing Bodies and Local Sports Partnerships who are seeking suitably qualified independent persons for their boards in a variety of skill areas.
- The service, which is supported by Sport Ireland, aims to assist sporting bodies who are actively complying with the Governance Code and working diligently to improve their overall standards of governance, including their board composition.
The Federation of Irish Sport have today launched their Board Recruitment Service for National Governing Bodies and Local Sports Partnerships. The service, which opened for applications from members of the public in August, is now available for Federation members to utilise when seeking candidates for vacant board positions.
Speaking about the service, Federation of Irish Sport CEO Mary O’Connor said, “The importance of a strong, suitably qualified board has never been greater within the sporting sector. To continue to strive for best practise, good governance and future growth organisations need to be supported from the top down. Our new service will assist organisations in identifying expertly qualified personnel to fill skill gaps within their board positions. We hope it will be another step on the road to good governance and compliance with the Voluntary Governance Code.”
Chief Executive of Sport Ireland, John Treacy, said: “Good governance in all National Governing Bodies of Sport and Local Sports Partnerships is of paramount importance. This has never been more true, as we look ahead to 2021 where the adoption of the Governance Code for Sport will become a condition of funding for all organisations. The recruitment service launched today will assist organisations in putting in place robust structures and strong boards, with members fully aware of their responsibilities and the responsibilities of their executive. This new service will complement the range of services Sport Ireland makes available to National Governing Bodies of Sport and Local Sports Partnerships to support good governance in funded organisations. We thank the Federation of Irish Sport for their input and work on this service and look forward to its roll out in the months and years ahead.”
The project, which is supported by Sport Ireland, will be particularly useful to bodies as they approach key times of change within the organisation such as Annual General Meetings and term ends for board members. The facility will be available throughout the year and can be used by any Federation member organisation as often as necessary.
How it works:
Following a call for interest from members of the public, the Federation now has a foundational database which will build, change, and grow over time. The database is categorised by a variety of factors including skill area, geographic location, gender, experience – both sporting and non.
When a position arises within an organisation, the Federation member should contact database manager Sarah Maloney with information including a role description, any particular skill requirements and the process of selection employed by the NGB. Suitable candidates will be identified from within the database, contacted by the Federation to confirm their interest in the organisation in question and their details, including CV, then shared with the organisation seeking to fill a vacancy. It is then up to the organisation to engage with any candidate(s) they fill suitable.
All candidates will have been added to the database on successful cross checking of professional references provided. All candidates will also have made the Federation aware of any potential conflicts of interest from other roles they hold.
Skill areas identified:
Finance
Governance
Marketing & Communications
Legal
Audit & Risk
Public Affairs
Strategy & Planning
Women in Sport
Chairperson
For Further Information Contact:
Sarah Maloney on sarah.maloney@irishsport.ie or complete the expression of need form at https://www.irishsport.ie/expression-of-need-form/
END
Dec 15, 2020
Rugby’s moment of reckoning is here.
6 years after the NFL agreed a €765 million settlement for a concussion-related lawsuit, a “test group” of 8 former rugby players is suing rugby’s governing bodies for the effects of repeated concussion. Irish players may be involved in the next wave of cases involving up to 70 players.
Their claim is that the governing bodies negligently failed to protect them from the known risks of concussion. They allege these risks became more prevalent in the professional era of the game (post 1995).
All 8 players are under 45, played in the professional era, and have received the same diagnosis – dementia with probable chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). CTE is caused by repeated blows to the head.
What must they prove to succeed?
A claim in negligence against a sports body, broadly speaking, requires proof of 3 elements:
- The governing body owed a duty of care to the player
- The governing body failed to meet the requisite standard of care
- This failure caused injury, loss or damage to the player
1.Duty of Care
This is a given – Governing bodies regulate the conduct of the game and owe a duty of care to players to set standards and safety protocols.
2.Standard of Care
The requisite standard of care differs from sport to sport.
In rugby, certain injuries are inherent risks of playing the game. Breaking an arm or a leg in a lawful tackle, for example.
Brain injuries and dementia fall outside that. Governing bodies must take measures to meet a certain standard of care that protects players from these risks.
In the NFL, it was alleged that the governing body knew about brain injuries and did nothing. A complete failure of standards and protocols on concussion. Until as recently as 2010, the NFL continued to dispute the evidence linking repeated head impacts in American football, to long term brain damage.
Arguably, rugby authorities have been more proactive in recognising concussion risks and protocols. They have implemented measures.
To meet the standard of care required, the law does not demand perfection but it does demand that every reasonable effort is made by the governing body to protect players from the risks.
This could include :
- Communicating the risks
- Training and education
- Adequate concussion protocols
- Rigorously enforcing the protocols
- Baseline testing
- Providing medical advisers
- Monitoring and training coaches and referees on the issue
- The Resulting Loss
If it is established that the governing body failed to meet their standard of care, the player must still establish that this failure caused the injury or loss – i.e. dementia.
Establishing this link can be difficult. It will require complex medical and factual evidence.
Previous concussion-related actions against the NFL, NCAA and NHL all settled before trial. These legal proceedings in rugby may follow suit. However, at what cost ? Rugby’s governing bodies are already cash strapped following COVID.
We may therefore see a different approach play out.
