Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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17. To ask the Minister for Finance the details of the analysis carried out regarding the treatment of policyholders in the aftermath of Storms Emma and Ophelia; the number of policyholders impacted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7368/19]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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In the wake of Storms Ophelia and Emma last year, I understand that Minister of State Michael D’Arcy TD requested officials to look at how insurance claims were managed. His request arose on foot of some negative feedback that the Minister of State had received from policyholders regarding delays in claims being processing in relation to these storms.

In this context, Minister of State D'Arcy and officials met directly with a number of the largest insurance companies operating in the State to discuss their individual responses as well as to seek information with regard to how the claims process was handled since the storms. The meetings also provided an opportunity for the issues that the Minister of State had received feedback on to be set out to the various insurance companies. Meetings also took place with representatives of loss assessors and a number of insurance brokers from an area which was heavily impacted by Storm Emma. Following these meetings, a summary of the key points raised during the meetings on the factors that had influenced the speed at which claims may have been settled was prepared. This document was presented to the Minister of State for his consideration and in response he has asked that the concerns expressed be further examined by members of the CIWG over the coming weeks.

Finally, it is important to note that my Department does not collect the type of information being sought by the Deputy regarding the numbers of policyholders impacted after Storm Ophelia and Storm Emma. I understand however from Insurance Ireland data provided to my Department in June 2018 that there were approximately 11,900 respective claims arising from the storms, which gives the Deputy a sense of the scale of the numbers of policyholders impacted.