Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I am grateful for the opportunity to raise this matter. My colleagues, Deputies Dara Murphy and Jim Daly, as well as several Dublin based Deputies have also been in contact with the Office of Public Works and the Irish Insurance Federation regarding the issue of homes that have been flooded and can no longer access any form of insurance. As I have raised the matter with the Minister of State, Deputy White, on previous occasions, I will be brief in rehearsing the two issues arising. First, the constituents who I represent understand that the premiums they will be asked to pay could reflect the increased risk of flooding to their homes, but they find it difficult to accept that they cannot get any flood insurance whatsoever. Second, the State is funding infrastructure throughout the country to protect communities from the risk of flooding. Insurance companies reflect this infrastructure in the premiums they charge in those communities. In effect, the State is providing support to the insurance industry but communities which are not protected by flood prevention infrastructure - I am also seeking to fix this - are given no support from the insurance industry. A question of fairness arises if the insurance industry is not recognising the State's investment in certain communities to prevent flooding and, in many cases, refusing to provide flood insurance at any price. Even homes that have never experienced flooding are unable to get flood insurance because they are located near areas that were flooded.

I acknowledge that the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Brian Hayes, is doing considerable work in this area and is seeking to advance negotiations. I would be grateful if we could get an update on the current status of these negotiations.

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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On behalf of the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Brian Hayes, I thank Deputy Donohoe for raising this issue and commend him on the work he and others have been doing to address it. I am happy to provide an update on developments since the Deputy last raised this matter in February.

I am aware that the issue of obtaining flood insurance cover continues to create difficulty for people in certain locations, either in terms of the review of household insurance premiums or where their existing insurance companies indicate they will no longer provide such flood cover specifically. The Irish Insurance Federation, IIF, has repeatedly assured the OPW that the incidence of such difficulties remains at a low level and that only 2% of insurance policies nationally are involved. None the less, 2% of households represents a significant number of affected people and the Government is anxious to address the problem for this reason.

In February, the Deputy was updated on the establishment of a working group comprising the OPW, the IIF and representatives of the main household insurance companies operating in the Irish market to consider and address this issue. It is important that the nature and purpose of this group and the role of the OPW in this process are clearly understood. The OPW has no role or function in relation to the oversight or regulation of the insurance industry or of insurance matters generally. It is important to state this because there may be some misconception about the nature of the OPW's engagement with the IIF in regard to flood insurance cover. The discussions which are currently ongoing between the OPW, the IIF and the insurance companies have a specific focus and are solely concerned with agreeing a basis on which information can be provided to the insurance industry on flood relief schemes completed by the OPW and the standard of protection offered by those schemes.

The working group has made solid progress towards reaching agreement on a data sharing platform which will allow the insurance industry to take proper account of the levels of capital investment in flood protection measures over several decades by the OPW when assessing flood risk in localities where such flood measures have been completed. A considerable number of technical issues have had to be addressed but it is important that all such matters are addressed in a comprehensive way to ensure that the system of data exchange is robust, reliable and sustainable. The information is being provided in a readily accessible GIS format which will show in digital map files the areas benefiting from completed flood defence works. The initial focus of the group's work is the provision of information on schemes which provide protection for the one in 100 year flood.

Last April the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, had a very constructive meeting with the new chief executive officer of the Irish Insurance Federation. The new CEO confirmed his commitment to the process under way and ensuring the working group established between the Office of Public Works and the Irish Insurance Federation agreed to a memorandum of understanding to guide present and future interaction between the insurance industry and the OPW on communications on completed flood defence works. The OPW is satisfied that the insurance industry is engaging constructively and positively in this process and there is a strong willingness to reach agreement on a sustainable system of information exchange. Ultimately, it is a matter for the insurance companies to decide how they will use the information provided on completed flood defence works. As part of the process, they are committing to take the information into account in their assessment of risk. It is hoped this will facilitate the provision of flood cover in all areas protected by completed schemes.

The Minister of State looks forward to the completion of the work of the OPW-IIF working group in the near future and expresses his appreciation of the effort the IIP has put into this co-operative exchange in recent months. The level of information available to the insurance industry on flood risk throughout the country will be greatly enhanced with the thorough and robust mapping of the country's watercourses for flood risk under the national catchment flood risk assessment and management, CFRAM, programme. In time, it is expected proper assessment of flood risk by the insurance industry will be based on firm evidence based and verifiable assessments.

I remind the Deputy of the avenues available to those having difficulty, with complaints or queries in seeking insurance cover through the Irish Insurance Federation's free insurance information service. In addition, the Financial Services Ombudsman deals independently with unresolved complaints from consumers about their individual dealings with all financial service providers.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his response and welcome the change of tone evident in it. His response acknowledges that progress is being made and the insurance industry is engaging constructively and positively in this process. It is important to highlight this, as we must tackle this issue.

I ask the Minister of State to relay to the Office of Public Works my concern about the benchmarking of the infrastructural work the office is required to do. While I understand the need for such benchmarking, in Dublin city the lead provider of flood relief infrastructure is Dublin City Council rather than the Office of Public Works. This may also be the case in other Dublin local authority areas. The Office for Public Works tends to be responsible for such provision outside the capital. Dublin City Council is constructing flood prevention works to the same standard as those provided by the Office of Public Works. However, the Minister of State's reply makes explicit reference only to the Office of Public Works. I ask that the Office of Public Works examine this issue to ensure the work required in Dublin is done to the standard required by the office. Perhaps the Office of Public Works could check works carried out by Dublin City Council or other State bodies to ensure it is satisfied that they are done to the required standard.

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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I again thank the Deputy for raising this issue and the additional insights he provided in his rejoinder. I will ensure the comments he made on the position on Dublin City Council which I did not fully appreciate until now are relayed to the Office of Public Works. I am sure the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, will ensure they are taken on board in the work being done.