Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The CFRAM report dealt with certain parts of the country. Its scope has widened because the analysts have looked at one in 100 year events and one in 1,000 year events. I imagine the Minister of State has, like every other Deputy, encountered cases such as those I have encountered in Roscommon. A person may be selling a house on a hill, but the CFRAM report will have that house in the category of a one in every 1,000 year event, even though water never came near it. In one case, the bank would not give a mortgage to the buyers for the simple reason that they could not get insurance, even though the house was already insured. If the people who owned the house kept it, they would continue to get insurance but a new person buying the house would be refused insurance. This is causing problems because people are left with houses they have to stay in or else someone needs raw cash to buy them because the banks will not give a loan and the prospective buyer will not get insurance cover.

Does the Minister of State envisage a remedy for such cases? When insurance companies go bust, the State covers the people the companies claim to have insured. They are looked after and there is no liability on the person who had the insurance policy. Does the Minister of State envisage that something will be done to ensure people who are vulnerable are able to get some cover, perhaps by applying 1% levy on insurance premiums to deal with such cases?

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