I second Senator Kelleher's amendment to the Order of Business.

I think Senator Norris means Senator Grace O'Sullivan's amendment.

I beg your pardon. I apologise. I call for a debate on transport. About 35 years ago, I was one of the principal organisers of the Dublin crisis conference where we focused on reclaiming Dublin as a living city. We now have a situation where apparently 1,200 front gardens are going to taken over by the NTA to create a series of express bus routes. This is part of the continuing disaster on the part of whatever imbeciles are in charge of the transport network in this country. People will open their front doors not on to a garden but straight on to the street. What about the pollution from diesel fumes? We are really degrading people's lives. Instead of having them living in a living city, we have them living in an industrial environment. This is an appalling situation. What they really should have done is put in an underground railway. I said this 30 years ago in this House and got very strong support from all sides. We were nearly there and then the Government lost its nerve at the very last minute but it is still not too late. An orbital underground system could be installed. I doubt if a message coming from this House to the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport from his former senatorial colleague will carry a perfumed aroma but I would ask the Leader to transmit to Senator Ross that there is somebody in this country-----

Minister Ross.

What did I call him?

Senator Ross.

Oh well, whatever he is. He is a Minister and he has that responsibility.

He was in the House for two Commencement matters this morning.

I suggest that the Minister contacts one person who has been consistently right about transport matters and who is rather non-aggressive. He is not all pushy and does not really promote his own ideas but he is somebody who has a really clear understanding of the transport situation. I understand he is an adviser to the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. His name is Cormac Rabbitt. The Minister should talk to Cormac Rabbitt about the possibility of putting in an orbital underground network even at this stage. Although a surface tram suits me perfectly, gets me here every day and is an excellent system for those people for whom it works, I pointed out in this House 25 years ago that one could not increase the length of a surface tram because of traffic disruption or increase the frequency of the tram whereas one could do both with an underground system. Recently, Luas tried to increase the length of its trams and it led to total traffic chaos and congestion. We told them that 25 years ago. I wish they would listen and in particular, that they would listen to the gentle and informed voice of Cormac Rabbitt.

Two days ago, I raised an issue concerning Irish Water, the lack of supply and the number of outages, particularly in Skerries, so I welcome the fact that following that, we had a meeting with Irish Water. I commend the residents for their determination to have this matter resolved. Arising from the meeting, there was a worrying element. The focus is rightly on finding an immediate, short-term and medium-term solution so I welcome the fact that Irish Water will put in booster pumps in Skerries and also put in a booster pump to fill the reservoir at Thomastown which supplies Skerries. However, there is a need, which is felt by the residents, for an independent report to be commissioned by the Minister to find out what the problem is because it was quite apparent last night that neither Fingal County Council nor Irish Water was 100% sure what the problem is. I very much believe that if one does not know what is causing a problem, the likelihood of finding a permanent solution to it diminishes considerably. I call on the Minister to commission an independent report that should not take a huge length of time to discover the cause of this difficulty. It cannot be explained by the stretch of good weather. As I said, there have been 20 outages over the past 18 months. I welcome the fact that Fingal County Council was at the meeting.

Again, there are two agencies involved and we need somebody from outside to do the report.

The other issues raised were around the regulatory authority and what rights people have. It seems reasonable that neither Fingal County Council nor Irish Water would be responsible for what happens inside the boundary of a private dwelling, but if issues outside the boundary result in damage to property inside the boundary it does not seem to be fair or natural justice. When there are outages without warning and people are at work they cannot turn off their pumps, the pumps keep running and they burn out, or the house pipes become full of airlocks. Most people are not skilled in the art of bleeding out airlocks. It is a simple enough procedure if one is a plumber and knows the trade. This sort of issue costs people a lot of money. I would like to call on the regulator to give us some ruling on its role on the rights of consumers in this regard. These people paid €4,000 apiece for their water connection and the least they can expect is the service they paid for, and not to be regularly sustaining damage and costs because of burnt out pumps and airlocks, and in some cases washing machines breaking down. I ask the Leader to ask the Minister about this. I call on the Minister, through the good offices of the Leader, to instigate and commission an independent report into the causes of these problems in water supply in the Fingal area.

Senator Boyhan referred to the National Treatment Purchase Fund, NTPF, which the previous Government thought was not a particularly good idea but has reinstated. Senator Boyhan was a director of the NTPF for two terms. The NTPF did great work in the mid-2000s onwards. Given the current waiting lists, the NTPF needs to be resourced to deliver quickly to those people who have waited a long time on waiting lists for procedures. Many people are waiting for far too long, far beyond what they should be waiting, and often in great discomfort.

With regard to insurance fraud, the Alliance for Insurance Reform gave a presentation in the audiovisual room this morning, which was attended by Senators, including Senators McFadden and Mulherin. We saw very serious examples of blatant fraud such as people going into licensed premises, restaurants and shops and staging accidents. Only for the CCTV footage there would have been payouts in these cases. In many cases these incidents involve a family industry and these people are known to the Garda for staging fraud. We do not, however, have a fraud unit within An Garda Síochána to look at these cases.

The costs of insurance working group recommended such a measure and I call on the Leader to have a debate on the costs of insurance, especially fraud, and the setting up of a Garda unit that would deal with fraud and prosecute people who are shown to be bringing in false cases. We are all paying for it. Everybody is paying for these fraudulent cases. It is not just happening in motor insurance; it happens in the licensed trade, the restaurant trade and shops. There is a premises in County Mayo that had to close recently because its insurance premium had gone from €5,000 in 2014-15 to €55,000 this year. This is unsustainable and the business had to close with the loss of more than 20 jobs.

There are many other such examples around the State of premises under pressure. We have been told that street performers will not exist in the next few years because a stilt walker or a tightrope walker, for example, will not get insurance as it will become too expensive. It is a very serious issue. People are making an industry out of it.

At the briefing by the Alliance for Insurance Reform we were told of a person who had said that if he was short of cash he could rob a bank or stage an accident. He said that if a person got caught staging an accident there are no repercussions but if a person got caught robbing a bank, obviously there are. This is what some people in society are doing. It needs to be looked at.

The Senator-----

Let us not start robbing banks now, and not from your lot.

Gerry.

I hope the coalition partners are not falling out.

Senator Conway-Walsh started it. It is important to have a debate on the issue of insurance fraud and on whether or not An Garda Síochána should be resourced to tackle it. The Minister was before the committee some weeks ago and said that gardaí were to be diverted away from crime into fraud. Fraud is a crime, however, and the exaggeration and staging of claims are all fraud. We are all paying for it. It costs people jobs and businesses. It costs us all in our premiums. I ask the Leader to arrange a debate on that matter.