2026-02-10

156. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the steps he is taking to ensure that flood insurance is extended to the approximately 290,000 buildings in the State that have limited or no flood insurance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10449/26]

This question relates to flood insurance. We have seen floods destroy homes, communities and businesses alike. The Central Bank's figures show that 290,000 buildings in the State are at risk of flooding and that the owners struggle to access flood insurance. Almost 100% of those have either limited cover or no cover at all. This does not even include properties at risk from coastal flooding. What actions is the Government taking to make sure that flood insurance will be available to everyone who needs it?

I acknowledge the serious damage caused by recent flooding events and their impact on families, communities and businesses across Ireland. The Government remains committed to protecting Ireland’s current and future generations by investing in climate adaptation measures to manage the impacts of extreme weather. Accordingly, €1.3 billion has been committed to the delivery of flood relief schemes over the lifetime of the national development plan, NDP, to 2030. This will protect approximately 23,000 properties across various communities from river and coastal flood risk. In terms of flood insurance, the Central Bank of Ireland has undertaken extensive research into the nature and scale of the flood protection gap in Ireland. It found that one in 20 buildings - approximately 5% - has limited access to flood insurance and that 54% of this gap is concentrated in Dublin, Cork, Louth, Clare and Kildare. It found that one in 20 buildings, approximately 5%, have limited access to flood insurance and that 54% of this gap is concentrated in Dublin, Cork, Louth, Clare and Kildare. However, our recent experiences demonstrate that the impacts of flooding are not solely limited to those counties. The report notes that no single solution exists to address the flood protection gap. Building on the work carried out by the Central Bank, the Action Plan for Insurance Reform 2025 to 2029 includes four specific actions on flood and climate protection. With respect to action 17 of the action plan, the Department of Finance is currently engaging with multiple stakeholders on the development of a long-term strategic approach to the provision of flood insurance to consider potential solutions specific to Ireland to increase the availability and affordability of flood insurance. An update will shortly be provided to the Cabinet sub-committee on insurance reform. My officials will also continue to monitor developments at EU and international level and assess flood insurance matters, including through participation in the OPW and the Insurance Ireland working group. These matters remain a priority for the Government and efforts continue to be made to encourage a responsive approach from the industry.

Lack of access to insurance can affect communities and businesses in a very real way. The Minister of State mentioned the Central Bank report. In 2024, it reported as follows: "The occurrence of a severe flood could leave households and businesses with high levels of uninsured losses, impairing economic recovery from a flood event"., It concluded that there is "a serious risk of complacency". Everything the Minister has said is more of the same complacency. Indeed, when the Tánaiste, who is seated beside him, was Minister ten years ago he talked about flood insurance. Ten years on, nothing has happened. We have the same situation over and over again. The Minister of State is talking about more high-level reports, meetings and so on. Right now, we have a situation where private insurance companies pick and choose who they will extend flood insurance to. We do not allow that to happen with health insurance companies. We do not say they are allowed to only pick people who are healthy, young and all of that, but we let flood insurers get away with this. What is the Government going to do? We can roll back the tapes ten years. In fairness to the Tánaiste, when he was the Minister responsible for the OPW, he said we needed to deal with this issue. However, ten years on we are still not dealing with it and there are still no solutions. When is the complacency going to end?

EU legislation, the Solvency II directive, states that neither the Central Bank nor the Minister for Finance can compel insurance companies to provide insurance cover. The last action plan on insurance reform delivered but gaps remain, and we acknowledge that. That is why we published a new action plan on insurance last summer. We acknowledge that State intervention is needed. That is why there are four actions in the action plan targeting this area. One of those actions, a priority action, is to develop a long-term strategic approach to the provision of flood insurance. That will bring together the Central Bank, the insurance industry, the Department of Finance and the OPW. The insurance industry has already established a flooding task force and we expect proposals in the next month, which will feed into our Department’s stakeholder forum, which will also take place next month. The forum will bring together the Central Bank, insurance industry, Department of Finance and OPW to bring about a proposal to address this gap in the market.

The problem is that we have been hearing the same thing for the past ten years regarding task forces, multi-agency groups and the rest. That is all fine. We have to do some of that work to get the results and ideas. However, the Minister of State talks about his plans delivering but ten years on, they have not delivered for these households. Thousands of houses and businesses across the State have no insurance and are at risk of flooding. That is the problem here. The Government does not have a concrete plan. Last year, when we raised this issue, Fine Gael went away and met with the CEOs of insurance companies and told them they should improve the level of cover for areas with demountable flood defences. Let us park demountable flood defences, however, because only 4,500 people use them in the first instance. The vast majority, 250,000 people, do not use them. The reality is the insurance companies have not done anything on this issue. If private insurance companies are unwilling to provide insurance cover, the State needs to address that. Across the European Union, there is a recognition and acceptance that the State needs to step in where the sector fails. Is the Government going to deal with this issue and does it have a potential State-supported scheme on the table?

The Government is dealing with this issue. That is why it is a number one priority in the action plan that was launched last year. The flood protection gap in this country is one of the lowest in the European Union. Under 5% of people cannot get access to flood insurance. I acknowledge that is of cold comfort to that 5%, but in terms of coverage from a European Union perspective, we have one of the lowest gaps in the EU. We are meeting with the industry and it has established a flood task force. The proposals are imminent, which will feed into the group that has been established by the Government, consisting of the OPW, the Department of Finance and the Central Bank. While I acknowledge there are people who cannot get access to flood insurance, this Government has not left them uncompensated. They have received funding through the humanitarian fund which is supported by the Government. I acknowledge there is a gap in the flood insurance market but that gap has been supported through Irish Red Cross funding put in place following every flooding incident. The most recent Red Cross funding put in place resulted in an increase in the funding paid to businesses that suffered flood damage.