Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 April 2016
114. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if the Office of Public Works makes available information in relation to flooding to home insurance companies; the data available from the OPW in the case of the Mayne River in Baldoyle, Dublin 13; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8449/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Office of Public Works (OPW) has no role or function in relation to the oversight or regulation of insurance matters. The provision of insurance cover, 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 Memorandum of Understanding between the OPW and Insurance Ireland, which was signed on 24th March 2014, outlines the principles of agreement between the parties on the provision of information to insurers to facilitate, to the greatest extent possible, the availability to the public of insurance against the risk of flooding. The OPW is committed to providing Insurance Ireland with data on all completed OPW flood defence schemes showing the design, extent and nature of the protections offered by these works. Insurance Ireland members will then take into account all information provided by the OPW when assessing exposure to flood risk within these areas.
In accordance with the Memorandum, the OPW has provided Insurance Ireland with data on sixteen completed OPW flood defence schemes. Details of the information provided to the Insurance Sector is available on the OPW website, www.opw.ie. The OPW has not carried out any flood defence scheme on the Mayne River, and so has not provided any data on that river to the insurance industry.
