Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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394. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform further to Parliamentary Question No. 360 of 8 June 2016 whether he will reconsider the case for these persons (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19633/16]

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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The Office of Public Works (OPW) has no role or function in relation to the oversight or regulation of insurance matters. As I had indicated in my previous response to the Deputy, the Memorandum of Understanding between Insurance Ireland and the OPW provides that OPW will provide detailed background and technical information on its completed flood defence schemes to Insurance Ireland (II), and II members have committed to take all this information into account when assessing exposure to flood risk within these areas. The provision of insurance cover and the price at which it is offered is a commercial matter for insurance companies and is based on an assessment of the risks they are willing to accept and adequate provisioning to meet those risks.

Flood mitigation works carried out by local authorities are not generally designed to protect against a 1% AEP flood event, the desired standard set out in the Memorandum of Understanding. OPW generally would not have detailed technical and design information on projects carried out by the local authorities. For these reasons, there are no plans to include local authority flood mitigation works in the scope of the Memorandum of Understanding.

From the information now supplied, it is suggested that the works carried out by the Local Authority in this particular instance may provide the degree of flood protection generally required by the insurance industry. While it is open to any person or group seeking property insurance to supply insurance companies and/or brokers with any relevant information on flood defences which might influence a decision on the provision of cover, I have asked my officials to liaise with Cork County Council to explore the possibility of providing the relevant information, in the agreed format, to the Insurance Ireland in relation to this scheme.