Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As indicated, I am taking this debate on behalf of my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, who has an urgent commitment. I thank Deputy Donohoe for raising this issue and for affording the House an opportunity to revisit it since he last raised it in autumn. Other Deputies have also raised the matter.

I assure the House that the impact of flooding on businesses and householders and the issue generally of flood insurance cover remain to the fore on the Minister of State's agenda. The difficulties that some people have been experiencing in securing insurance cover for flood risk at affordable prices, or at all in some instances, particularly in areas that have had flood defence works carried out, is something that the Minister of State is actively pursuing.

To consider the flooding issue in overview for a moment, the strategic focus of the Government through the work of the OPW and local authorities is to alleviate the impact of flooding through the provision of defences to reduce existing flood risk and by taking steps to manage and reduce flood risk in the future through a strategic and sustainable approach under the national catchment flood risk assessment and management, CFRAM, programme. This comprehensive programme to identify and assess flood risk nationally will, in time, provide a level of information that will allow a more informed engagement with the insurance industry in respect of flood risk cover and, in turn, will enable the insurance industry to take decisions on the provision of cover based on the fullest possible assessment of that risk. The CFRAM studies will lead to the provision of integrated flood risk management plans, which will assist the management and mitigation of flood risk well into the future.

Prior to the completion of the CFRAM programme, the Minister of State has been concerned to ensure that the insurance companies make their assessment of risk in any particular case based on the best available data. In particular, he has often stated that he does not accept that any property protected by significant public capital investment would not be able to receive a quote for insurance at a reasonable cost, the point referred to by Deputy Donohoe in his introduction.

Accordingly, following a number of meetings that the Minister of State had with the Irish Insurance Federation, IIF, and a number of the main insurance companies, a joint working group has been established between the OPW, the IIF and representatives of several insurance companies to progress agreement on a sustainable format and system to facilitate the exchange of information currently available on completed flood defence schemes. This will ensure that the insurance industry can be fully informed as to the extent of OPW investment in flood protection measures in recent decades and will take that investment fully into account in assessing flood risk for insurance purposes.

A preliminary exchange of information between the OPW and the IIF has taken place on selected completed flood defence schemes and the standard of protection that they provide. Clearly, it is important that the information be as thorough as possible to verify the level of protection involved. This requires a considerable amount of detailed work on the part of the OPW to collate the required data and present it in an acceptable format.

The Minister of State is happy to say that the feedback received from the insurance industry on the "template" information provided has been positive. Some relatively minor technical issues remain to be resolved, but he is optimistic that the template format will be agreed shortly.

He acknowledges the commitment by the IIF to making substantial progress through this working group, which has already engaged in this matter in a co-operative manner. The working group will meet regularly to advance and complete its work in the quickest possible timeframe.

While the Minister of State is hopeful that an agreed system of information exchange will significantly improve the situation over time, it is important to bear in mind that the provision of new flood cover or the renewal of existing flood cover is a commercial matter for insurance companies, as acknowledged by Deputy Donohoe. The insurance companies cannot be directed to provide flood cover to specific individuals or businesses. It remains a matter for the insurance market to manage the assessment of risk and the provision of all classes of insurance cover at an individual policy level. This assessment takes account of a range of factors and is often considered on a case-by-case basis.

However, avenues are available to those who continue to experience difficulty with flood insurance cover. I am informed that queries or complaints in this regard can be directed through the IIF's free insurance information service. In addition and as Deputies know, the Financial Services Ombudsman deals independently with unresolved complaints from consumers about their individual dealings with all financial service providers.

See this speech in context