Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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On the same topic, it is a year since we sat here with the Minister of State’s predecessor and had exactly the same conversation when he said he would keep communicating with the insurance industry and that maybe at some point it might move. It has not moved and is not likely to move, given the new information the Minister of State has provided. He has quite rightly said it already had information he will continue providing. There are people in every constituency who cannot get insurance and who continue to be at risk of flooding, for example in Baltrasna Lane, in my own neck of the woods, on 13 November. These people are out of their homes for months on end and suffer €30,000 worth of damage every time there is a flood and they cannot get insurance. What steps will the Department take? Does it need to bring in new legislation? There must be at least a minimal level of insurance that insurers must be obliged to provide to certain people. I know two families on Baltrasna Lane who have abandoned their houses because they do not have the money to keep putting back into them because there have been floods again this year and they are down €30,000 again.