Kieran O'Donnell (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is more subtle than that. If a person's renewal date is 1 January 2018, and a claim was made because of Storm Ophelia in October, when that person comes to renew in January the policy will not be renewed or the premium will be crazy. I want to distil this down. In the main, the 17% not covered are on flood plains or areas exposed to flooding. The question is what can we do in terms of goodwill from the insurance companies. Insurance Ireland is the representative body, and I am not dealing with specific issues of how risk is assessed.

What can be done at this point with the insurance companies, with regard to the new CFRAM study about to be published and with regard to putting in place flood defences? Perhaps Insurance Ireland can have a part to play to bring about a sense of urgency to allow the Minister of State look for OPW funding to get flood relief schemes under way. Obviously, he goes to the Department of Finance to get the funding. What can the insurance industry do to assist the Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW to get the requisite funding to put in place flood defences and honour its side of the bargain, whereby if they are put in place the industry will reinsure and continue house insurance? We can talk about everything, but this is the basis of it.

Help me to help get people reinsured. This has become an abstract discussion. The insurance companies will state it is all about risk. The bottom line is people who have been flooded, such as those in Mountmellick today, will claim on their insurance because their beds, furniture and carpets have been destroyed. Perhaps these are people in their 50s or 60s or perhaps they are young couples. They are desolate. What can we do to get them reinsured?