Mr. James Doyle:

I will read a short statement. Extreme weather events seem to be on the increase, with torrential rainfall causing flash flooding which in turn can cause extensive damage to homes and businesses. Some areas are more prone to flooding and damage and as a result insurance companies will not cover them for risk. Homes and businesses find themselves in the vulnerable position of being unable to get insurance against loss or damage, thus challenging Government to come up with a solution to help people who have suffered major loss as a result of property damage.

As a first step, a thorough assessment of the scale, extent and intensity of the problem needs to be undertaken. A number of different approaches need to be considered. For instance, urban areas where flood defences can be erected need to be treated differently from natural river flood plains in that urban areas need to be treated as capital expenditure. In some cases only parts of a townland may be under threat of flooding but the entire townland is being blacklisted by insurance companies. The Shannon basin flooding problem must be considered, as it is a recurring event. Financial help will need to be given to those without insurance cover suffering damage and loss owing to the extreme weather conditions. We welcome this opportunity to discuss this very serious and pressing problem and look forward to participating in a further discussion.

I referred to urban areas versus the individual house. If flood defences are capable of being put in place, that is a different way of financing compared with a private house which may not have that facility available. That is one of the big distinctions. The Shannon basin is another major ongoing problem. I do not know what can be done about that because there have been so many Government promises over the years about drainage for the Shannon. There are many individuals in rural areas along the Shannon and, as the Chairman rightly pointed out, it is very detrimental to the whole community there when their homes, farmland and businesses are flooded. That is a major problem. That is a kind of national approach again as distinct from the problem with insurance on the individual home or business.

How will this be addressed? One always thinks of some of what happened in the past and that it is another levy on somebody else's insurance. In this climate it would take a very brave person to suggest another levy on somebody else's insurance to pay for something. We would like to discuss the issue today, if this is possible.