Mr. Paul Kavanagh:

It is all down to the geocoding. Nearly every insurance company has its own geocoding "machine". At this stage, I have the geocoding details of the various areas in Cork at the top of my head and if I am given an address in Cork city, west Cork, Clonakilty or Bandon, where I work on the ground, I will know whether there is flood cover available there, because the insurers all follow the same pattern. The geocoding was designed by engineers. The first example I saw after the floods of 2009 basically excluded every house between Castletownbere and Youghal. It excluded the whole Lee-Blackwater valley. There have been many examples of similar geocoding.

The issue of geocoding and insurance must be tackled. I understand insurers are working on the issue, but they need to work together. We need a common geocoding practice. I acknowledge the work done by this committee and the pressure it has put on the IIF to meet the OPW. This has been fantastic, but we need more of this. We now need pressure on the issue of geocoding. We need a standard practice of geocoding. We need to know that if we have a problem in Clonakilty, Bandon or wherever, we have that problem. As we explained to the Minister of State with regard to the problem in Skibbereen the other day, the OPW plans to start work there in 2014 and it will take it two years to complete its work, which will take us to 2016. However, I guarantee this committee that unless we put serious pressure on the IIF companies, we will be unable to get any insurance cover in Skibbereen until 2020. Today, one cannot get flood cover in towns such as Clonmel, which has been protected from flooding now for two or three years. Mallow and Fermoy are the same. People in these areas cannot get flood cover even though the OPW has completed works. At the moment, we must take every case as we see it on merit. I read of one man whose property was 50 m above the River Lee, yet his policy was loaded 100%. When he rang the insurance company, he was told this was on account of flood risk, despite the fact he was in Shanakiel and 50 m above the river. Stupid decisions are being made with regard to geocoding. We and other brokers try to support each case, but insurance companies have Fermoy, Clonmel, Blackpool, Blackcastle and other areas listed in their computers as black spots. That is an easy solution for them, but we need to get around that. Our estimation of between 40,000 and 50,000 houses affected is not out of the way. People say we have underestimated the number affected.