Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish to return to my question on the 500 m proximity to water. Insurance companies ask people whether they are within 500 m and immediately give a quote or refuse insurance. They never ask whether the premises is defended and they do not ask if there is evidence of flooding in the past. Most of the mitigation measures are on the perimeter of a review except where there is attenuation and things built into the middle of an estate. Insurance companies do not ask the question on proximity, they do not even get to the point of asking and that is when the refusal happens. Insurance companies do not want to insure anything that is within 500 m. It does not matter how much money that the OPW has spent on a riverbank because one is a goner in insurance terms if one lives within 500 m. That proviso is now applied more rigorously and all of the insurance companies ask the question.