Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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377. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if his attention has been drawn to the proposal for a data platform on flood insurance as per academic research (details supplied); his plans to implement such a database; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23993/17]

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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Fit for the future? The reform of flood insurance in Ireland: resolving the data controversy and supporting climate change adaptation is an independent research paper on the issue of flood insurance in Ireland with the main focus on the establishment of a flood risk database than can be accessed by a wide array of stakeholders. It is part of a wider research project conducted jointly by University College Cork and the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and is funded by the Environmental Protection Agency.

In order to assist insurance companies assess the risk and take into account the protection provided by completed OPW flood defence schemes, the OPW has a Memorandum of Understanding with Insurance Ireland, the representative body of the insurance industry. This Memorandum sets out principles of how the two organisations work together to ensure that appropriate and relevant information on these completed schemes is provided to insurers to facilitate, to the greatest extent possible, the availability to the public of insurance against the risk of flooding. Insurance Ireland members have committed to take into account all information provided by OPW when assessing exposure to flood risk within these protected areas.

To date OPW has provided details to Insurance Ireland on 17 completed schemes nationally and Insurance Ireland has advised that flood insurance cover is included in 83% of policies in these defended areas. The OPW has recently provided details on a further completed scheme to Insurance Ireland.

The Department of Finance in its Report on Insurance and Flooding, that was included in the November 2016 Interim Report of the Interdepartmental Flood Policy Co-ordination Group, identified the need to strengthen the issue of data sharing via the Memorandum of Understanding between Insurance Ireland and OPW, in relation to the type of data, granularity of data to be exchanged and the pace of such exchange.

The particular issues in relation to the sharing of data are being explored through a Working Group in which the OPW, Insurance Industry and Department of Finance meet on a quarterly basis. To date the development of a data platform as proposed in the research paper has not been considered by this forum.

Some of the key elements of the recommended data platform are currently available on the OPW websites. These include information on the past and future flood risk and measures to manage flood risks. The publication of the Flood Risk Management Plans, later this year, will provide additional information in line with the recommendations of the research paper.

I am satisfied with the progress of the Working Group thus far and am confident that it will continue to be informed by this and other research papers to progress the issue of flood insurance.