John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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186. To ask the Minister for Finance his plans to ensure that households in flood risk areas are covered by insurance companies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21331/16]

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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187. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will engage with insurance companies to ensure that family homes are covered by insurance in flood risk areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21332/16]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 186 and 187 together.

The provision of insurance cover 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. 

In my role as Minister for Finance, I have responsibility for the development of the legal framework governing financial regulation.  Neither I, nor the Central Bank of Ireland, can interfere in the provision or pricing of insurance products or have the power to direct insurance companies to provide flood cover to specific individuals or businesses.

Government policy in relation to flooding is focused on the development of a sustainable, planned and risk-based approach to dealing with flooding problems, with a view to addressing the increased availability of flood insurance. 

To achieve this aim the OPW is carrying out assessments of 300 areas under the Catchment Flood Risk Assessment and Management (CFRAM) programme and each area will have a Flood Risk Management Plan (FRMP) by the end of 2016. Decisions on future investment in relation to flood risk management will be informed by the FRMP's.

This strategy is complemented by a Memorandum of Understanding between the OPW and Insurance Ireland which provides for the transfer by the OPW of data in relation to completed flood defence schemes to the insurance industry. 

An Inter-Departmental Flood Policy Co-ordination Group has been established to examine the issue of flooding, and to ensure a whole of Government approach in the area of Flood Policy. This Group is chaired by Seán Canney TD, Minister of State with special responsibility for the Office of Public Works and Flood Relief. The OPW are the lead agency and have responsibility for submitting the final report of the group to Government. Each Department on the Group will submit a report to the OPW dealing with policy issues in their own area with a view to directly improving preparation for and response to flooding or strategic policies which impact on people's risk and experience of flooding.  

As an input to the Inter-Departmental Group's work the Department of Finance has carried out a review of flood insurance with a particular focus on the strategies that other jurisdictions have implemented to increase the availability of flood insurance cover. This work examined a number of policy options and has made a number of recommendations. The completed report has been provided to OPW to feed into the final report of the Inter-Departmental Group.