Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Tonight I will be speaking about the people who have been impacted and my endorsement of this Bill. The Gallery is packed for a reason. Many of the people have had defence systems put in place. The OPW has done a fine job. We commended the work of those involved earlier this evening. However, there is no point in doing a fine job if a person goes into the local bank or company to get insurance but cannot get it. The town of Ballinasloe is only 20 miles down the road from me. A review was carried out there recently in the Derrymullen estate. A flood wall was put in. A total of 60% of the people surveyed could not get house insurance. That is despicable in this day and age. If those affected wish to sell their properties, they cannot do so because one of the terms and conditions of getting a mortgage is access to house insurance.

Businesses use demountables when there is a risk of flooding. We have got €100,000 worth of such flood defences for Ballinasloe. Even if these defences go up, it is not recognised. If the people affected want to get an overdraft or an extension to a stocking term loan, they cannot get it for the simple reason that they do not have adequate cover. In this day and age we should provide people with the right to insurance. If we deny it, we are denying insurance to them for fire, burglary and flooding. That is what is happening.

I call on Members on the opposite side of the House to think again before they decide not to support this Bill. Not only will they be denying people flood insurance cover, they will be denying them fire cover and burglary cover too.

See this speech in context