Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will look favourably on both of the Deputy's requests. He can take as a given that I will do everything I can to ensure the report is delivered with haste. I share his frustration and that of people in Skibbereen. The Government wants this flood relief scheme to be delivered and has provided funding to that end. People in Skibbereen now expect it to be delivered, having invested considerable time in providing valuable information that will ensure we will have the best and most effective scheme possible.

I will be delighted to visit Skibbereen and meet people in the town. While I cannot give the Deputy a guarantee that I will be able to do so on 15 December, I guarantee that I will do so in the coming weeks. I will arrange with the Deputy and other Members to meet a delegation from Skibbereen, either in Leinster House or Skibbereen. It would be useful for everyone to come together to make a collective push to get the scheme over the line.

The Deputy also raised the issue of insurance, which is a source of concern for people in Skibbereen and elsewhere. As he noted, my predecessor, the former Minister of State, Mr. Brian Hayes, did a great deal of work in agreeing a memorandum of understanding with the insurance industry. It involves the Office of Public Works sharing with the insurance industry details of the flood relief programme. In return, we expect the industry to factor this information into its commercial decisions. Following publication of the CFRAM programme, we may end up spending €1 billion on flood relief works over two decades. We cannot have the taxpayer spending more than €40 million per annum on flood relief schemes while people are left without insurance. I met representatives of Insurance Ireland today and expect to receive an update in the next week or thereabouts showing what the organisation has done with the information it received under the memorandum of understanding and how many people have been provided with insurance as a result of flood relief schemes. I hope and expect that once the scheme has been delivered in Skibbereen, Insurance Ireland and the insurance industry in general will live up to their side of the bargain. This will require the industry to factor information provided by the OPW into its commercial decisions in a favourable manner. Insurance cover is a great worry for people and addressing the issue is one of my priorities.

I again thank the Deputy for raising the issue and reiterate my commitment to Skibbereen.

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