Mr. Ciaran McDonnell:

I will follow up on the point about insurance conditions and that thatching standards. In my case, I bought my thatched property just over eight years ago. During the buying process I struggled to obtain insurance. Eventually, the person from whom I was buying the property suggested I go to their insurer, which I did. The insurer offered to cover me but it had some conditions. It was already insuring this property but it insisted that a particular chimney stainless steel flue was installed in the chimney with a spark arrester fitted to the top. If I did not install this flue then there was no way it would provide cover. The flue was installed and in a subsequent conversation with my thatcher, he said that if I was to light a fire with that flue in place it would cause the thatch to burn. Those flues had been banned in other jurisdictions. He knew, for instance, that they had been banned in the UK. I was left in a position where if I wanted to have insurance I had to keep the flue but I wanted to keep the flue I could not light a fire.