Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Nobody would consider it an overstatement to point out that when somebody's home is flooded it is quite devastating. People who have been in flooded homes can see that. There is the clean-up afterwards, the debris that ends up in the house, the possibility of spores and damage to people's health and trying to dehumidify the house before one tries to put it back together. The one question people always ask is: "What if it happens again?" That is their major concern.

Undoubtedly, the extent of the rainfall in the last month to six weeks was exceptional. When one considers the major floods that are occurring quite regularly now there is no doubt that it will be the pattern we will continue to see. That is due to a change in our climate. In my area I have seen a 100-year flood occur on several occasions since 2000. While I understand the reason that the Shannon region was the focus of most attention recently, the Liffey catchment also experienced some difficulties. Indeed, the Morell river in my constituency caused some houses and roads in the area to be flooded quite badly, and not for the first time. There is an advanced proposal to remediate that which is very much in harmony with the surrounding environment.

Previously, there were remedial works in Maynooth, Leixlip and Johnstown and all of those designs and investments stood up well to the test. The problem is that often a whole-of-catchment approach is not taken. When the Maynooth remedial works were carried out the next place to flood was Leixlip. When Leixlip was remediated the next place to flood was the Strawberry Beds. That is an indication that one must consider the total catchment area or problems could be caused in other areas. The sequence of the works is extremely important. If one does the work lower on the river first, there is a stronger flow of water and sometimes there can be a great deal of sediment in areas of the river. That clogs the river. That has happened in the Straffan area in Kildare. There is a virtual mountain in the middle of the Liffey. I have tried to find out who has responsibility for it but it is very difficult to find anybody with that responsibility. That is part of the problem.

I am a member of the environment committee. Representatives of the insurance industry appeared before that committee on 25 September 2012 to discuss this issue following an earlier flood. The catchment flood risk assessment and management, CFRAM, study is not complete yet, although it should be. However, where CFRAM studies have been done the insurance companies appear to use the information that is gathered. The information is required so a strategic environmental assessment can be carried out in advance of drafting a development plan to ensure one has the information required so land is not inappropriately zoned. The CFRAM studies were being used - we challenged the insurance companies about it at the time - to code areas and exclude them from insurance.

Somebody contacted me about this last November. Her home has never been flooded but because she lives within 500 metres of the canal she was excluded from flood insurance. There is no prospect of her home being flooded. I can also point to places that are on hillsides. The water would have to flow up the hill to flood them. Using that information as a way to exclude people from flood insurance is absolutely inappropriate. We are gathering information for the insurance companies. They tell us, as they said in the report that the committee published before Christmas, that if there is big investment in flood defences they will look at it again. However, the same problem exists now as existed in 2012, so the insurance companies are not acting ethically. They must stop inappropriately using the information that is collected. They must be told that and if they do not do it, there must be some mechanism to ensure it is enforced.

See this speech in context