Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 11 November 2020

Public Accounts Committee

2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 6 - Expenditure under a Maintenance Contract
2019 Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works

4:30 pm

Mr. John Sydenham:

Technically, it would be the Department of Finance. I cannot comment on how individual insurance companies conduct their business, but anecdotally there is information that people, in the course of obtaining insurance, are asked how close they are to a watercourse, and that seems to affect the level of cover provided or the premium asked for.

On maps, we have a very meticulous CFRAM map of the areas at risk at a community level. We were very clear that those maps cannot legally be used for giving or withholding insurance. It is a private matter between an insurer and their individual customers, but that whole issue of proximity to watercourses is an area that does need to be looked into.