Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 183: To ask the Minister for Finance his plans for the drainage of the River Shannon and its tributaries; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7702/10]

Martin Mansergh (Tipperary South, Fianna Fail)
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The Office of Public Works has no statutory responsibility for the maintenance of the River Shannon. However, the OPW has responsibility for a number of arterial drainage schemes in the Shannon catchment area. These include the Brosna, the Inny, the Boyle and a number of localised schemes including Knockroghery and two sections of the Mulcair. These schemes are now maintained by the OPW under the Arterial Drainage Acts. This office has no proposals for any further Arterial Drainage Schemes in the River Shannon catchment.

A number of public bodies have an involvement in the management of the Shannon watercourse. These include the ESB, Waterways Ireland and relevant local authorities. The OPW has no information on the maintenance plans of these bodies. In line with the requirements of the EU Floods Directive and national flood policy, the OPW will this year commission a Flood Risk Assessment and Management study of catchments throughout the country including the Shannon, and this process will involve extensive participation by all significant stakeholders.

The Shannon FRAM study will map areas of the catchment that are at risk of flooding and, for areas where flood risk is significant, a prioritised list of mitigation measures will be produced. The range of measures that will be investigated, and which may well be found to form part of the overall solution, will include managing the water level regime on the river as well as carrying out structural protection or channel excavation works in some areas, the development of a flood forecasting system and the use of the cutover bogs for flood storage.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Question 184: To ask the Minister for Finance his views on the decision of certain insurance companies not to offer insurance cover to businesses located in areas not deemed to be high risk for flooding in spite of having a history of never flooding or claiming for flood damage; if companies are obliged to offer ongoing cover to existing customers in such circumstances; the options available to these businesses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7789/10]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The question of providing cover to new policyholders or renewing it for existing ones is a matter for each insurance company to decide on a case by case basis as this allows a company to properly assess the risk it is considering accepting. Consequently I am not in a position to comment on particular cases as neither I nor the Financial Regulator has any influence over such matters. However, it should be noted that the industry has informed my Department that it is reluctant to discontinue flood cover for existing policyholders, and would generally only do where there have been repeated claims. The best option open to a person who is unable to get cover or to renew it is to contact the Irish Insurance Federation which operates a free Information Service in order to discuss the matter. Their service can be contacted at (01) 6761914 or by email at iis@iif.ie .