Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The insurance industry does have a responsibility to work with businesses post flooding and not to simply write off parts of the country because we have a flooding event. The Government will play its part in humanitarian support, which is effectively what this is. The Red Cross is a humanitarian organisation implementing humanitarian supports for businesses. It is not the alternative to insurance provision although, in the short term, in many parts of Ireland where it is not possible to attain flood cover, we must have supports available to business should flooding happen again there, which is why we need to move ahead with OPW-funded schemes to actually get flood protection in place in towns such as Midleton and other parts of the country, including Louth because we know that works. The reason Mallow, Fermoy, Bandon, Skibbereen and Clonmel have not flooded this year, despite all the rain, is the OPW has spent tens of millions of euro on each of those schemes and they work. They protect businesses and homes. We need to focus on climate adaptation as well as mitigation in Ireland and commit hundreds of millions of euro to put infrastructure in place to face the new realities of more violent storms and more rain. The Government is committed to doing that.

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