Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This is my final question. The position of successive Governments in Ireland has been that it is a commercial decision for insurers to decide whether they should provide cover for floods, for example, or for subsidence risk. The State does not intervene or put any onus on an insurer to provide cover, but it will help to reduce risk by carrying out flood relief measures, for example. Dr. Surminski referred to other models internationally under which the state does become involved in reinsurance, for example, or underwriting the risk. Are there other good models in Europe whereby the state becomes involved for the greater economic good because insurers will not take the risk of providing cover in certain locations for certain types of risk? Does any state take the view that it is in its overall economic interest to have insurance and that it will provide some backstop? What are the best models in Dr. Surminski's view?