Mr. Kevin Thompson:

I will respond to some of those questions and will hand over to Mr. Horan to deal with the technicalities of geocoding. With regard to the potential increase in insurance premiums, our view is that the marketplace is quite competitive in terms of the 12 general providers in the market, not including foreign insurers which, under freedom of services, underwrite business here also. Premiums have decreased in the past 12 months by 4%. I believe insurers are acting prudently and fairly in terms of the application of premium rates across the marketplace.

In response to whether we take action against establishments such as the ESB, the federation has no knowledge of any of its members taking action against such parties. This would be the decision of each insurer to do that, but I believe they would not see it as their role to take legal action against such organisations. In respect of local authority maintenance of flood defences and clearing of drains, we would refer to the committee's previous report in July 2010 where such recommendations were made. I am aware membership of the committee has changed since then. As a representative body, the federation would urge that follow-up action be taken on the recommendations of the previous committee. One of the recommendations concerned ensuring drains and so forth were kept clear and that local authorities were followed up on in respect of their responsibilities in this area.

Our engagement on insurance of flooded areas has been with the Office of Public Works since January and it is the main conduit for us in understanding what remedial action has taken place, the standard of the action and considering whether that work can be incorporated into underwriting criteria within insurance companies to provide people in those affected areas. I agree the principle of insurance is based on spreading risk within a risk pool. However, there is a difference between insuring a certainty versus a might be and this must be taken into account.

In respect of geocoding, Mr. Horan our non-life insurance manager is probably best placed to comment on that.