Joanne Collins (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I raise the issue of thatched homes. Thatched home owners are facing a growing crisis. They are part of our built heritage. They are not just homes. Every year the owners face the struggle of finding house insurance. Many insurers have just left that sector altogether. The ones that have stayed in the game are charging anything up to €2,500 for house insurance once the owners can find somebody to insure them. They also face the issue where if they cannot get house insurance, they cannot get a mortgage or sell their house. In the event of a disaster, they are taking their lives in their hands because their house will be destroyed if damaged by fire or water. Many of the insurance companies are citing those exact reasons, for example, structural concerns and fire damage, for not wanting to give insurance. Instead of working with homeowners, they are just pulling out of this section of the industry all together. One can mitigate against these issues by using alternative fuels and fire mediation. I welcome the work by the Department of housing, the Heritage Council and the thatched buildings steering group. Carrying out assessment is not going to be enough to get insurance for these homeowners. The thatched property insurance action group is also trying to create a group insurance scheme, which is commendable, but we need the Government to help with this and support this, whether through subsidies, tax incentives or a shared risk model.

Another aspect of this, which is also a pressure for these homeowners, is the shortage of skilled workers to thatch these houses. If we do not develop training schemes for apprentices for this trade, as it is a dying trade, we could end up with these thatched homes just being used for tourism and not being liveable anymore. I ask for a debate in the House on this at some stage.