2026-02-10

161. Deputy Noel McCarthy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the measures being considered by his Department to ensure that flood insurance cover is made more accessible to households at risk of flooding, or those that have previously been flooded; the further engagement his Department has had with insurance providers in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10351/26]

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I would like to acknowledge the severe impact the recent storm has had on families, communities and businesses across Ireland. In doing so, I also acknowledge the work of our emergency services, our local authorities, the Civil Defence and the very many organisations and individuals who worked tirelessly for their communities over the past few weeks. It is also important to state that the Minister for enterprise, Deputy Burke, and the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Calleary, moved quickly to open the enhanced emergency humanitarian flooding support for impacted businesses, and emergency response payment scheme, to help businesses and homes to get back on their feet. As I outlined in my earlier reply, insurance reform, including increasing the affordability of and accessibility to insurance, including flood insurance, remains a key priority for the Government. The Action Plan for Insurance Reform 2025-2029 includes specific actions on flood and climate protection. My Department 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 on this work and the other specific actions in the plan will be provided at the upcoming Cabinet sub-group on insurance reform. This work will build on the extensive research undertaken by the Central Bank of Ireland into the nature and scale of the flood protection gap in Ireland, which identified that approximately 5% of buildings in Ireland that have limited access to flood insurance. We know that flood insurance alone cannot address the totality of the flood protection gap, which is why the Government remains focused on the development of a sustainable, planned and risk-based approach to managing flooding. We are investing in climate adaptation measures to manage the impacts of extreme weather, to protect Ireland’s present and future generations. A total of €1.3 billion has been committed to the delivery of flood relief schemes over the lifetime of the national development plan to 2030. This will protect approximately 23,000 properties across various communities from river and coastal flood risk.

I thank the Minister of State for his response. I know he is acutely aware of the impact of damage caused by flooding and the lack of insurance cover thereafter. My constituency of Cork East, particularly Castlemartyr, Killeagh, Mogeely, Midleton, Rathcormac and Whitegate, suffered extensive flood damage caused by Storm Babet in October 2023. Flood relief schemes and protection measures are progressing but they remain years away from completion. An individual property protection scheme to provide flood protection barriers has also been established but again the roll-out has been slow. Insurance payouts appear to be minimal in the aftermath of storms. I know of one man whose entire fleet of cars was destroyed but he was only paid roughly 10% of the value of his policy, leaving him with only the legal route to pursue his losses. Others will not be insured again having received a payout. These are real people with real stories. In the absence of flood schemes insurance protection gaps in flood prone areas have developed. I ask the Minister of State to do all he can to ensure constant engagement with the insurance industry and relevant stakeholders. I would also like to be associated with the Minister of State's words of praise for all of the emergency services.

I thank Deputy McCarthy for making those very clear and valid points this evening. The Tánaiste has just reminded me that the Cabinet committee on climate is meeting in the morning and one of the items on the agenda is consideration of what interim measures can be introduced in advance of permanent flood defences going in to particular areas. We need to speed up mitigation measures in areas such as those mentioned by the Deputy. I reiterate in relation to the action plan on insurance reform that there are ten priority actions, one of which is in the area of delivering flood insurance to fill the gap that is there. Taking a long-term, strategic approach to the provision of flood insurance will involve building on the work that has already been undertaken by the Central Bank, as well as working with the insurance industry, the Department of Finance and the OPW to design a scheme that will be fit for purpose for Ireland. The insurance industry has already established a flooding task force. I met a member of that task force earlier today who informed me that it will have proposals for consideration by Government in the next number of weeks. Work is well under way in terms of addressing the flood insurance gap that currently exists.

I thank the Minister of State for his positive response. As a result of a lack of flood insurance, residents are fearful of further damage to their homes or businesses whenever bad weather is forecast. Has the possibility of a flood insurance cover scheme to underwrite flood risk been explored? Similar reassurance schemes exist in other jurisdictions such as Flood Re in the UK. Is the Minister of State of the opinion that such a scheme could be implemented here? My home town of Fermoy has had flood protection, thank God, since 2012, which is working very successfully. However there are some commercial businesses that still cannot get insurance, even though the town is flood protected. Again, I thank the Minister of State for his response.

The Deputy mentioned particular areas where flood defences have been put in place but flood insurance cover remains problematic. That is a big concern because the Government has invested tens of millions of euro in permanent flood defence mechanisms but the insurance companies have not responded adequately. I met the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, earlier today and am due to meet with the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, next week to discuss ensuring that outstanding service level agreements that are in place are adhered to in order to give insurance companies confidence to come in and provide insurance where the State has made the necessary investment. The Deputy also mentioned Flood Re, a scheme that is in operation in the UK. The Department of Finance explored that scheme back in 2016 but at that time it was felt that it was not a good fit for Ireland. However, in the context of the new action plan on insurance reform, the Department is re-evaluating that scheme, as well as looking at other international models to see how they can feed into the work that is ongoing here from an Irish perspective. The Central Bank, the Department of Finance, the OPW and the insurance companies, through Insurance Ireland, are coming together in March to examine what options we can look at implementing from an Irish perspective that will fit our model here.