Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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Everyone in this House is aware of what has occurred in respect of flooding in the past ten days. We have a major problem in that an awful lot of premises, both commercial and private, cannot get insurance cover. I am looking for the establishment of a centralised fund for properties where the owners cannot get damage cover due to flooding. It would be similar to the Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland fund. That fund means that where someone is injured as the result of an accident, he or she can claim against the Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland. The injured person would obviously claim against the driver of the car but there is a centralised fund for traffic accidents, which is the Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland fund. I am talking about setting up a similar fund for flood damage. As everyone pays their insurance every year, an amount would be set aside for a centralised fund.

People will ask me why we should set up a fund now when there is adequate Government funding. I reply that a day may come when there is not adequate Government funding. We are very fortunate at this time that there is money available and accessible at short notice. However, that may not always be the case. Therefore, we need to do long-term planning now. My understanding from the insurance industry is that 97% of premises have flood insurance cover. I am talking about the premises that cannot get cover. All of Cork city, for instance, cannot get flood insurance cover.

I was in the Copper Valley Vue estate in Glanmire on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Twenty-five houses there were very badly damaged. I was with a couple there. The man turned 80 on Monday and his wife is 79. They have been living in their house for 40 years and never had flood damage in their lives. The house was never previously affected by floods. Everything has been destroyed. There was 2 ft of water in the house. I was with them at 5 p.m. on Saturday and it was devastating to see the damage caused to the beds and all the furniture. One problem with a bungalow is there is no place to which to escape. In fact, they had to be rescued from the house. A neighbour brought in a tractor and trailer and that was how they got out of the house. That just shows what we now need to do. That couple will never again get flood insurance. That is the difficulty they have now.

I very much welcome what was set up yesterday and what is available. We have increased the schemes for, for instance, a married couple with a combined income of €90,000. Once people are under the limit of earnings, they are entitled to claim. Even those who are over that threshold can still claim but may get a reduced level of compensation. If the couple in question have one child, another €15,000 is available in respect of the income they are entitled to earn. If they have two children, the relevant amount is €30,000. The scheme we have set up is extremely welcome but we need to do long-term planning for this issue. I presume insurance companies will be looking at areas more carefully and it may be more difficult to get insurance to cover flood damage. I ask that my proposal is given serious consideration.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy. I am taking this on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Carroll MacNeill. I first acknowledge the enormous damage caused by the recent flood events as a result of Storm Babet and the impact it has had on families, communities and businesses. Yesterday, the Government opened two emergency business flooding schemes for small businesses, sports clubs, and community and voluntary organisations unable to secure flood insurance and affected by recent flooding in counties Cork, Waterford, Limerick, Kilkenny and Louth. These provide humanitarian support towards the cost of returning their premises to their pre-flood condition. This support will have two stages. The first will commence immediately and will provide a contribution of up to €5,000, depending on the scale of damage incurred. It is anticipated this will meet the needs of the majority of those affected. The intention is to process payments as fast as possible.

However, if the premises have incurred significant damages above €5,000, businesses can apply for additional financial support, following an assessment by the Irish Red Cross. The total level of support available for both stages combined will be capped at €20,000.

Recognising the exceptional severity of the flooding in some areas, the Government has agreed to activate an enhanced emergency business flooding scheme that provides higher levels of financial support for businesses that have been severely affected in certain locations. This too will have a quick payment mechanism capped at €10,000. However, where a small number of applicants may have more significant damage, there is scope for further assistance, totalling up to €100,000. Also announced as part of this package are low-cost business loans through Social Finance Ireland. Complementing this, support to affected householders is available through the Department of Social Protection’s humanitarian assistance scheme. This covers funding for emergency income supports, replacement of household goods and internal property repairs.

These recent events have made clear the devastating impact flooding can have on communities across Ireland. In my constituency, as with many communities across the country, households and businesses are increasingly confronted with climate risks such as flooding and coastal flooding but also other climate events such as windstorms and fires. I understand exactly what the Deputy is saying. Coming from the banks of the Shannon in Portumna, we have had our fair share of flooding along the Shannon Callows.

Turning to the core of the Deputy’s Topical Issue, a centralised fund to compensate uninsured claimants following a flood event would not have the desired positive impact and could instead run the risk of unintended consequences, such as insurers pricing prohibitively for high-risk properties, an increase in premiums of low-to-medium flood risk properties, or even insurers deciding to withdraw from the market altogether. It is likely to have the opposite effect and would undermine the well-established and functioning market for insurance cover that ensures that flood insurance is widely available in Ireland. I am sure we all agree that we do not wish to undermine or negatively impact the current provision of such cover. The potential spillover effects of this should not be underestimated, with risks to the overall insurance competition landscape in Ireland and to jeopardising the gains made in insurance reform in recent years. We should not lose sight of the fact that the Government has developed a comprehensive whole-of-Government action plan for insurance reform, which addresses insurance issues in a structured and targeted manner. We are already holding the insurance industry to account in the provision of accessible and affordable insurance policies.

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for her comprehensive reply. We are in a situation where flood relief programmes have been put in place and property owners are still having difficulty in getting flood insurance cover. The Minister of State might ask why they need it but they need it because if one is drawing down a loan or mortgage from a bank, the bank will look for that insurance. The same is true with householders and this is one of the difficulties that lending institutions will start raising. There is no guarantee. In this case the Government has responded comprehensively and fast. If there is one-off flooding where only half a dozen properties are affected then we might not get the same reaction. That is the difficulty I have with not having some kind of long-term plan in place that automatically kicks in.

It is a difficult area and I fully accept what the Minister of State is saying to me, that the insurance companies may start playing a different game if we introduce that kind of scheme. I fully understand that. We should look at it from a long-term point of view, especially where property owners have been affected by flooding previously and where all the necessary steps have been taken by them and the local authority but they still have difficulty in trying to get new insurance and then, if they are selling on property, they have huge difficulty in marketing it. If one takes my constituency office in Blackpool, for example. Less than 20 yds from my office the commercial buildings were all flooded. No one wants to invest there now, even if we get the flood relief scheme, and unfortunately the flood relief scheme in Blackpool was subject to a judicial review and we are back to consultation now again. No one will invest in those commercial properties until such time as these issues are resolved.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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To be fair to the Minister of State, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, her answer is more than comprehensive. I have not read it all into the record but the Deputy has it. I will give her wrap-up statement. I thank the Deputy for raising this Topical Issue and I reassure the House that the Government is keenly aware of ongoing climate issues affecting citizens across the country. We will continue to have a whole-of-Government approach to this matter to put in place preventative measures, including flooding defences, to protect against future extreme weather events.

On the wider work on climate insurance, the Central Bank of Ireland and the Department of Finance continue to focus on ensuring that the financial system is resilient to climate-related risk and is capable of supporting the transition to a carbon neutral future. This important policy issue is the subject of consideration at EU and international level. The Department is monitoring any proposed evidence-based solutions and will continue to review possible policy options. The Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath, and the Minister of State, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, will continue to compel the insurance industry to be responsive and fair to policyholders impacted by recent flooding and storm-related damage.

I reiterate the Government's commitment to the two emergency business flooding schemes for small businesses, sports clubs and community and voluntary organisations unable to secure flood insurance in areas affected by recent flooding in Counties Cork, Waterford, Limerick, Kilkenny and Louth. The schemes provide humanitarian support contributions towards the costs of returning small businesses and voluntary and community premises to their pre-flood conditions, including the replacement of flooding fixtures and fittings, and damaged stock, where relevant.

I agree with what the Deputy says and there is a wider conversation to be had on insurance. Living along the banks of the Shannon for years, we have been inundated with exactly what the Deputy has outlined and we did not get the support we felt we needed.