Ms Moyagh Murdock:

I want to respond to the point Mr. Boland makes, that insurers should provide this out of their own funds. We have to draw back to the regulations from the Central Bank around prudential regulation. They cannot provide insurance at a loss and at a consistent level of underfunding. It would result in insolvency and in insurers exiting the market, which would be to the detriment of all homeowners, if there were an element of providing insurance at a loss to the actual entities. That just would not work. We want to ensure the risk is insurable and that it is at an affordable rate. There are things that have to be done to make sure the risk is reduced and that we can provide insurance at an affordable rate, either through a joint approach with Government or through elimination of the reasons thatched cottages are such a high risk for fire. That is the solution here.