Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Yes. My point about flood mapping is that if one takes CFRAM and a small village with a stream going through it where there has not been a flood within living memory, the insurance maps will show clearly at present that the curtilage of the stream is very wide and the area is deemed to be a flood plain. I might not have explained myself clearly. When the CFRAM study on the villages and towns we are talking about sees the light of day there must be a realistic mechanism built in such that one looks at the 100-year risk. If a village has not flooded, or the stream has not burst its banks, in living memory, and people are paying an extra premium for their insurance because the mapping is such that the curtilage is very wide either side of the bank, then I contend that the OPW or the Minister of State must look at the issue because it is driving up the cost of insurance and some places are uninsurable as a result.

Barryscourt Castle in Cork is another prime OPW site. We all acknowledge the excellence with which the OPW carries out its work in terms of care, maintenance and enhancement, because it has spent considerable resources recently enhancing such sites off the beaten track. Barryscourt Castle in Carrigtwohill is on a main thoroughfare and it is an example of wonderful work conducted by the OPW but it has been closed for some time and it is still closed. If the Minister of State cannot respond to me on the issue today perhaps he could revert to me.