The proposed withdrawal of public liability insurance cover by health boards from funeral directors and embalmers amounts to an off-loading of insurance costs from the health boards to those professions. Health boards are, in effect, acting as insurance agents for the insurance companies. They have, traditionally, borne this cover in their overall public liability insurance. It appears that public bodies have to work with the level of cover previously provided, while the cost of insurance continues to rise and the level of cover is reduced. Health boards now regard funeral directors and embalmers as outside contractors. The concept of contractual arrangements with the health boards is being pushed too far. Embalmers will, apparently, have to bear the brunt of those costs. I am not aware of any insurance company in Ireland providing this type of cover to the embalming profession. Funeral directors and embalmers are now to be considered as outside contractors, on the same basis as building contractors, plumbers, electricians or carpenters.
I understand the necessity for public liability for such people, as there are risks involved in the type of work they carry out. Can anybody tell me the level of risk involved in removing a dead person from a mortuary to the point that one needs cover ranging from €6.4 million to €12.7 million? We are starting to lose the run of ourselves.
One reasonable expectation would be for the health board to insist on its insurers accepting this level of liability under a hospital's insurance policy. Health boards are effectively complicit in helping insurance companies extend their tentacles into new areas. What other Departments will follow suit? Will we see the Department of Education and Science insisting on national school pupils bringing public liability indemnity documents to school with them? We are seeing the development of a sinister practice.
Having to shoulder the burden of increased insurance costs, funeral directors and embalmers will inevitably have to pass it on to bereaved families. By offloading these costs, health boards will be targeting these families at a most vulnerable time. People are traditionally reluctant to query funeral expenses. While I could understand the development of this new practice if undertakers had made many claims against hospitals or health boards, I have seen no evidence of this. It seems a florist who delivers a wreath to a mortuary will have to pass on a public liability insurance document stating he or she is covered to do this kind of work. It is a dangerous practice. Will visitors have to do the same kind of thing?
This is a national issue that is about to surface. Health boards and hospitals will soon be demanding that people have policies offering cover ranging from €6.4 million to €12.7 million. We should insist that this practice stops now. The insurance industry is destroying our small business sector and is now starting to gets its tentacles into health services. It is a dangerous practice and could be the thin end of the wedge.
