Councillor claims high car insurance costs threaten rural Ireland

A Donegal County Councillor has called for the creation of a nationalised body to oversee insurance claims across Ireland, after a young driver from North Leitrim was quoted almost €18,700 for motor insurance.

Cllr Micheal Choilm MacGiolla Easbuig says the high cost of insurance is driving young people out of rural areas where car dependency is high and that government policies seem to be centred on making life impossible for people living in rural Ireland.

The news that a young man in North Leitrim was quoted €18,693 euro for car insurance will come as a surprise to no one who is trying to make a living in rural Ireland, according to Cllr MacGiolla Easbuig.

He’s calling for the establishment of a nationalised body to oversee insurance claims and private insurance companies, that would serve to regulate and potentially cap the price of insurance cover.

The councillor says, the current cost of motor insurance coupled with the high levels of car dependency in rural areas is depriving the countryside of its lifeblood and pushing young people out, to larger towns and cities.