Deirdre Clune (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I raise this issue given the severe flooding in the Cork area on 19 November 2009, the first anniversary of which is approaching this week. There are a number of issues surrounding the aftermath of this severe flooding and I want to concentrate on the plight of residents and business owners in the area who are not being given insurance or must pay severe excess charges.

As the Minister of State is probably aware, the flooding resulted from severe rainfall in the month of October which built up in November. The ESB has two dams on the upper Lee catchment area, the Carrigadrohid dam and the Inniscarra dam. There was a wind, rain and tidal alert on the night of 19 November but this was not a tidal flood but one which came from the upper catchment of the River Lee. The area flooded was not prone to the type of flooding that happens in Cork city, which is caused by a combination of high tides, easterly winds and high levels of rainfall. It was a different type of flood which has been described as a once-off, flash flood. Residents who have been living in the area for years, and whose ancestors lived there for centuries, know the area does not have a history of flooding.

This is the crux of the matter. These residents now find themselves in a situation where they cannot insure their homes or business premises. A report published in July 2010 by the Joint Committee on the Environment, Heritage and Local Government recommended that there would be an independent investigation into the flooding and that a co-ordinated attempt would be made by the city council, county council and the ESB to address the issue. What can be done to put in place management structures for the dams in consultation with the ESB and the local authorities to make sure the insurance companies can get to a position where they will insure residential households and business premises?

It is important to repeat that this area is not normally prone to flooding. A severe flood occurred last November but nobody has stepped up to the plate and outlined what could have prevented it. We need an independent investigation to establish what exactly went wrong so we can put in place structures and lines of communication to ensure it does not happen again. Meanwhile, residents in areas that have never been flooded find themselves victims. They are powerless and are being stonewalled by the insurance companies. There is an opportunity for the Government and the Minister of State, Deputy Mansergh, who has visited the area, to step in and speak to the insurance companies to find what they are doing to alleviate the difficulties. If the Minister of State, Deputy Connick, visited the area today, he would see the locations where the quay walls were broken by the force of the river and have not yet been replaced.

We are facing into the winter and there have been flood alerts in recent weeks. The residents are extremely vulnerable and feel the State is not stepping in to protect them and ensure they can continue to live in the relative security they had before 19 November 2009.

Seán Connick (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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It must be stated at the outset that the decision to provide new cover or renew existing cover in any insurance situation is a commercial matter for insurance companies, as it allows insurance companies to properly assess the risk they are accepting. These are often considered on a case-by-case basis and, as such, the Government does not have any influence over this matter. That being said, the Government is fully aware of the difficulties currently being experienced by householders in certain areas in accessing flood insurance. The Minister for Finance is completing a memorandum for the Government which is expected to go to Government very shortly on the options available to address these difficulties. Care has to be taken that the State responds in an appropriate and cost-effective manner and in a way that allows it to provide flood relief measures which allow the insurance companies to continue providing cover in those areas.

While it must be acknowledged that there have been instances where insurance companies have refused to cover some property owners who made claims on their policies in the aftermath of last year's flooding, the Irish Insurance Federation, IIF, has informed the Department of Finance that the insurance industry is very reluctant to discontinue flood cover for existing policyholders, and would generally only do so in exceptional cases, such as where there have been repeated flooding claims. The IIF has also indicated that approximately 98% of householders who have household insurance currently have flood cover. It points out that insurers look at the claims history of the individual risk when deciding what underwriting action to take. They also look at any flood protection measures implemented by the local authority or OPW in the area. It states that where the flood risk is higher than normal, people will generally pay a higher premium or have a higher flood excess on their policy.

It is clear that the structured engagement between the IIF and the OPW is critical if progress is to be made on this issue so that underwriters are aware of what is being done in different parts of the country to address flooding problems. Such an arrangement would also help the OPW prioritise its remedial works which in turn would provide greater reassurance to the industry that the problem areas were being addressed in a structured way and this should lead to a greater willingness to offer cover in marginal areas.

Work has already begun on this and as part of this structured engagement the OPW has provided the IIF with a list of its capital projects and their current status. It has also provided it with another list of other flood mitigation works and studies on a county-by county basis. Furthermore, the OPW met industry underwriters at the end of October in order to give them a greater understanding of how they are addressing the flooding problems in different parts of the country. This type and level of engagement between the agency having the lead role in flood prevention measures and those providing insurance is part of the Government's response to this issue in flood prevention measures.

Another key part of the response I wish to draw to the attention of the House is the fact that the Government allocated €50 million for flood risk management activities for 2010, which is administered by the Office of Public Works. This increased allocation allows for delivery of a range of capital works schemes throughout the country. A concerted effort to roll out schemes, taking account of the seriousness of the underlying flooding problem in the different localities, is currently underway.

In February of this year, the Minister of State responsible for the OPW, Deputy Mansergh, launched the River Lee flood risk management plan, which is the result of three years work by the OPW and its partners, Cork city and county councils. This sets out a range of measures to manage effectively and efficiently the flood risk for the whole Lee catchment, which, when implemented, should significantly reduce the likelihood of the severe flooding witnessed in Cork city and elsewhere in the catchment of last year.

The OPW, in association with the city and county councils, is currently progressing the lower Lee flood risk management scheme, one of the key recommendations in the Lee catchment flood risk management plan. This scheme seeks to manage the flood risk from the River Lee and has been developed to protect against river and tidal flooding in and around Cork city. The scheme will involve works downstream of Inniscarra and through Cork city, permitting greater discharges to be made from the ESB reservoirs without causing flooding of properties and will provide protection against flooding from the river and during periods of high tide or storm surge. Based on extensive analysis, undertaken between 2006 and 2009, of river flows and tidal-surge levels, this scheme is considered the most cost effective means of managing these flood risks in Cork city.

While it is likely be some time into 2012 before construction works begin on the scheme, should interim measures be identified to reduce the existing level of risk in the course of the consultant's work, these will be considered by the OPW and its partners on the steering group. Furthermore, the OPW has sanctioned €0.9 million for Cork City Council to undertake the repair of quay walls breached last November and contract works for this are currently at tender stage by Cork City Council. I can confirm that the cost of undertaking the development work and the eventual construction works has been included in the OPW's budget profiles for flood relief activities for the coming years. The Minister of State is confident that the scheme to be developed will lead to a significant reduction in the risk of flooding as experienced last November.