Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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The Office of Public Works (OPW), through the Catchment Flood Risk Assessment and Management (CFRAM) Programme, carried out the largest ever flood risk study in Ireland to date, which assessed 80% of properties at risk from Ireland’s main causes of flooding. The OPW Flood Maps, that show the flood risk for 300 communities, are a key output of the study together with 29 Flood Risk Management Plans, with the proposed flood relief measures to address the flood risk in each community.

The Flood Maps are available to the public at www.floodinfo.ie however, it is important to note that they are community based maps. The maps were not designed to designate individual properties at risk. Therefore they do not show individual properties and they do not identify if a property close to an extent is, or is not, within an area at risk of flooding. The maps show the probable extent of flooding based on future projections.

The Disclaimer and Conditions for Use of OPW Flood Maps on www.floodinfo.ie includes a provision that users of the website must not use the Flood Maps, or any other content of the website for commercial purposes. As such, the Disclaimer prevents insurance companies from using the flood maps generated by the OPW. The insurance industry has its own flood modelling tools for assessing the level of risk that it is willing to underwrite in relation to individual properties. It has highlighted to the OPW that it does not use the OPW Flood Maps to inform its flood modelling. The decision on whether to offer insurance, the level of premiums charged and the policy terms applied are matters for individual insurers. Insurance companies make commercial decisions on the provision of insurance cover based on their assessment of the risks they would be accepting on a case-by-case basis. The Government cannot interfere in the provision or pricing of insurance products, as reinforced by the EU framework for insurance (Solvency II Directive).

The flood mapping that was produced for Kilcock through the CFRAM Programme is under review as part of the OPW’s Map Review Programme. Development in Kilcock has re-aligned the River Rye and its floodplains since the mapping was initially produced.

The OPW is awaiting completion of development in the Millerstown area of Kilcock prior to carrying out topographical surveys and computational modelling to produce updated predictive flood maps. To ensure that the flood maps fully reflect the changes on the ground, the flood map review cannot progress until the development is complete.

The Department of Finance has overall responsibility for policy matters in relation to insurance. The OPW has a role to assist insurance companies to take into account the protection provided by completed flood defence schemes. In this regard, 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. While the Memorandum does not guarantee the availability of insurance, Insurance Ireland members have committed to take into account all information provided by the OPW when assessing exposure to flood risk within these protected areas.

Insurance Ireland, the representative body for insurance providers in this country, operates an Insurance Information Service for those who have queries, complaints or difficulties in relation to obtaining insurance, which can be contacted at 01 676 1914 or feedback@insuranceireland.eu. Similarly, Brokers Ireland, the representative body for insurance brokers in Ireland, has access to a wide range of providers and products, and can offer advice for customers when sourcing cover. Brokers Ireland can be reached at 01 661 3067. Furthermore, where an individual considers that they have been treated unfairly, they have the option of making a complaint to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (FSPO). The FSPO can be contacted either by email at info@fspo.ie or by telephone at 01 567 7000.