Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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306. To ask the Minister for Defence if he will review the criteria of the small business compensation fund to include landlords of commercial and residential premises who were unable to secure flood insurance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45995/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Government have approved the allocation of €5m to be distributed as emergency humanitarian support to small businesses, which through no fault of their own have been unable to secure flood insurance and have been flooded recently. The Irish Red Cross Society have agreed to administer the scheme on behalf of the Government.

The objective of the scheme is to provide a once-off ex-gratia contribution to the costs of damage incurred by those small businesses which were unable to secure flood insurance and were flooded arising from the impact of Storm Desmond within the period 4 December 2015 to 17 December 2015. The scheme is intended as an emergency humanitarian assistance contribution rather than compensation for loss or a replacement for the cover provided by insurance.

The scheme is targeted at trading businesses rather than landlords. It is anticipated that this will address the vast majority of businesses affected. However, where particular circumstances arise, each case will be dealt with on an individual basis.