Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)

Over ten years since the successful completion of the Clonmel flood relief scheme, householders and businesses are finding getting insurance flood cover impossible or it comes with very heavily loaded premiums. The Clonmel flood relief scheme was completed in 2013 at a cost of €44.5 million. The scheme has been completed to a one-in-100-year protection level and it protects all areas adjacent to the River Suir in the town, including the old bridge, the quays, Irishtown, Waterford Road, Davis Road and over 500 houses and businesses. The scheme has been very successful but despite this and the exceptional level of protection afforded by the scheme, insurance companies are still denying insurance cover or heavily loading premiums. This applies not only to properties which have previous flooding history but to homes and businesses that have never flooded previously and are far from previous flooding events. It appears that if you have a Clonmel address, the insurance companies are immediately suspicious and refuse to take into account the very positive effects of the flood relief scheme. Surely householders and businesses should be able to access flood insurance in return for the State's huge investments in flood defences. I know that the Office of Public Works has a memorandum of understanding with Insurance Ireland, representing the insurance companies, which sets out the principles of how the two organisations work together to facilitate the availability of insurance against the risk of flooding. This memorandum does not appear to be working and I believe it requires urgent review.

A further difficulty is that the insurance industry is working off a database of maps which have not been updated and still show flood plains even where the most modern flood defences have been provided. Currently, one in 20 buildings or properties has difficulty accessing flood insurance, according to the Central Bank. This, of course, will increase as Ireland is likely to see significantly more rainfall in future due to climate change, thus increasing the likelihood of flood events. I ask the Minister of State to intervene directly with the insurance company to make sure that properties in areas where modern flood defences have been erected have access to flood insurance on the normal basis. Ultimately, the State may have to step in to provide a type of Government insurer of last resort to cover those who cannot get insurance at all as this problem will increase over the coming years.

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