Mr. Ciaran McDonnell:

I would like to come back on a couple of things committee members mentioned. This is fundamentally a problem with thatch insurance availability. It is a wider problem in the sense that it is an insurance problem. There are many sectors in the country that have problems accessing available and affordable insurance. In letters I have written to both the Department of Finance and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the problem is that neither Department recognises there is a problem with the insurance sector and that there needs to be intervention by the Government and by them, given they are the Departments that regulate the insurance companies. The Department of Finance and the Central Bank of Ireland regulate insurers, while the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has its action plan on insurance.

I welcome all the comments members of the committee made about requiring intervention because that is the position we have, that we need intervention. The thatched sector needs it urgently, but there are many other sectors of the economy that are struggling with insurance and need this intervention.

One business model we mentioned in lobbying submissions is a case in the UK where a public insurance company was set up to deal with just flood risk. For instance, where people are having problems obtaining flood cover with their insurer, their insurer can offer the flood risk and lay it off with this body called Flood Re. It is basically a reinsurance company. It is a model that can be worked on and used, and it operates within the Solvency II Directive, which is what governs the market rules for insurance in Ireland and Europe. It is a government intervention to solve an insurance problem where there is lack of availability and affordability.

Another question asked was what happens in other European markets in terms of insurance. Thatch insurance is available in other European markets. There are many thatched properties around Europe. It does seem to be peculiar to Ireland that we have a dearth of thatch cover available. Part of this may be due to the size of the market. We estimate there to be between 2,000 and 3,000 thatched properties in the Twenty-six Counties. That is quite a small market. Typically, thatched properties may have been insured as part of farms and so there are still policies there that are part of the farm policy, and because there is farm insurance available, the thatched property is insured as part of a farm. Thatched properties for holiday homes or one-off builds like Mr. Darby's are the ones that tend to struggle more with obtaining cover.