Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Finance has overall responsibility for policy matters in relation to insurance, including flood insurance. Government policy on flood insurance is centred on significant investment in sustainable flood risk management and the exchange of information between the insurance industry and the Office of Public Works (OPW) on completed flood relief schemes, as outlined under. Investment of €1.3 billion for the delivery of flood relief schemes is provided for over the lifetime of the National Development Plan (NDP) to 2030. In this context, the number of flood relief schemes at design and construction, has trebled to 100. The work will protect approximately 23,000 properties across various communities from river and coastal flood risk.

The Department of Finance has advised that the Minister for Finance, Michael McGrath T.D. and Minister of State Carroll MacNeill T.D., Minister for Financial Services, Credit Unions and Insurance, along with officials, continue to engage with the insurance industry on all aspects of insurance reform, including flood cover issues. These matters are a priority for the Government and efforts continue to be made to encourage a responsive approach to the provision of flood insurance from the insurance industry.

The 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. Neither the Minister for Finance or the Central Bank of Ireland can direct the provision or pricing of insurance products, in accordance with the EU framework for insurance (Solvency II Directive).

Insurance Ireland 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.

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 (MoU) with Insurance Ireland, the representative body of the insurance industry. The MoU 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 MoU 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.

During 2023, the OPW and Insurance Ireland completed a review of the MoU. The MoU has been circulated by Insurance Ireland to its members for their consideration and with a view to the formal sign off of the MoU as soon as possible.