Michael D'Arcy (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The insurance companies have to take that into consideration in their pricing model. They are structured and established to pay out in the event of a winter storm, for example, or an accident. The companies will calculate on the basis of the information available and the more information they have, the better.

I know what Deputy Fitzmaurice is talking about. It may be a desktop exercise to evaluate whether an area will flood. My experience is that if people get correctly qualified hydrologists, people who can show that the event will not happen, then the desktop exercise can be questioned. At that stage the potential exists for the insurance company to proceed differently on the basis of a proper flooding report rather than simply a desktop exercise, and that report would have more credence.

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