Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein)
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We have three petitions for consideration today. Petition No. 36 of 2021 is entitled Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings and was submitted by Ms Katie McNelis. This petition relates to the difficulties people have in getting insurance for residential and commercial thatched properties. The secretariat corresponded with the Central Bank on behalf of the petitioner in October 2021. The Central Bank responded in March 2022 and its response was forwarded to Ms McNelis and a copy of the petition and the correspondence was also forwarded to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman for comment. It responded in April and this response was forwarded to the petitioner. The secretariat was in contact with the petitioner since and in June 2022, Ms McNelis sent a copy of the letter from the thatched property insurance action group, TPIAG, to the Minister of State with responsibility for heritage and electoral reform, Deputy Malcolm Noonan, at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to the secretariat. The petition and all correspondence, including a copy of the letter from the TPIAG was sent to the following for comment: the Minister of State with responsibility for financial services, credit unions and insurance, Deputy Sean Fleming, at the Department of Finance; the Minister of State with responsibility for heritage and electoral reform, Deputy Malcolm Noonan, at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage; and the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage replied to the secretariat on behalf of Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, on 5 August 2022. The Department's reply also included a copy of the response, which was issued to the TPIAG on 3 August 2022 from the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, for information. Following on from this, the committee invited the petitioner and relevant Ministers in to speak to them about the petition. On 29 September, the petitioner and two other representatives of the TPIAG presented to the committee on her petition. Following that, on 24 November 2022, the Minister of State, with responsibility for financial services, credit unions and insurance at the Department of Finance, Deputy Sean Fleming, and the Minister of State with responsibility for heritage and electoral reform at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Malcolm Noonan, presented to the committee on the petition. Since then, the secretariat has again corresponded with Minister of State, Deputy Malcolm Noonan and the Minister of State, Deputy Sean Fleming, seeking an update on behalf of Ms McNelis. A reply was received from the Minister of State, Deputy Malcolm Noonan, on 8 February 2023.

The committee recommends that the correspondence fromMinister of State, Deputy Malcolm Noonan, be sent to the petitioner for comment within 14 days and that the November 2022 report entitled Report on Insurance and Fire Safety in Thatched Properties, which was commissioned by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, be circulated to the petitioner for her information. Do members have any views? It is a comprehensive document of 54 pages with a lot in it. There is no other way of putting it. It must be infuriating for the owners of these properties and those who have thatched roofs. While we have forwarded the report to the petitioner, it in no way offers a solution as far as I can see. We look forward to the petitioner's views on it. In the meantime, the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, has noted that the Department of Finance is due to hold a roundtable discussion on thatched roofs with insurance stakeholders. We have been hearing about that for a while now. I do not know how soon we will hear back on that. The Minister of State has not indicated whether he will attend the meeting himself. We will ask and see what comes back from it. The report is there. I do not believe it will satisfy the petitioners. Do any members have any other views?