Mr. Lawrence Owens:

There are a number of questions and I will go back to the initial one in terms of Fermoy and Clonmel. We do not have empirical data from those areas in terms of the cover of flood insurance but I am aware anecdotally that it has not changed the goalposts. There are certain businesses there that did not have insurance prior to the work being completed and they are still in the same position. It has not changed. In terms of the one in 100 years timeframe, it is early days in respect of towns such as Fermoy and Clonmel.

In the second part of Deputy Creed's question on the standard and quality of work, the OPW has the hydrologists. They have the expertise and the track record historically of doing this type of work. Their analysis, and the levels and quality of their work so far, has proved effective. A comprehensive study was carried out by the OPW where 300 locations in Ireland were identified as particularly prone to flooding. All of that data is now shared with the insurance sector. There is total transparency in terms of the data. I am assured that the insurance sector itself has comprehensive data on the country's insurance issues. There is quite a benchmark level of data out there for the insurance sector.

I agree with Deputy Creed on retrofitting. Retrofitting could be done, certainly on a local basis, to build in resilience to one's premises, whether through non-returnable valves for the pipe networks coming into the buildings or defence mechanisms on the side walls because, where one defends one's premises and makes it as resilient and robust as possible, if one's neighbour next door does not, it comes through the walls. In terms of flooding, the weakest link in the chain will result in the domino effect. However, at an individual level, there could be such initiatives, whether through a rate reduction or a local authority initiative in that area to assist businesses. While that can help and would be beneficial, the local work on the individual premises coupled with the significant work on a macro scale by the OPW would deliver a much more resilient area, including individual premises.