merrion street

The Government policy in relation to flooding is focused on the development of a sustainable, planned and risk-based approach to dealing with flooding problems, with a view to addressing the increased availability of flood insurance. 
To achieve this aim, there is a focus on prioritising spending on flood relief measures, development and implementation of plans by the Office of Public Works (OPW) to implement flood relief schemes and improving channels of communication between the OPW and the insurance industry in order to reach a better understanding about the provision of flood cover in marginal areas.
This is a coordinated whole-of-Government approach led by OPW with relevant local authorities and other bodies to maximise the level of resources available to address flood relief works. Because of cost and scale of these types of flood defence works, it is an approach which will see benefits over the medium and long term.
Commenting on recent events Michael D’Arcy TD, Minister of State for Financial Services said: “I want to reaffirm Minister Moran’s comments that every possible assistance will be provided to persons affected by the events. Regarding the future provision of flood insurance to those affected by these events, which will ultimately be a commercial decision for insurers, I will continue to work with all relevant stakeholders to maximise the availability and affordability of flood insurance. I will be contacting insurers with a view to meeting as soon as possible in order to raise these issues with them. The Government has previously shown its commitment to tackling flooding problems by the allocation of €430 million to flood defence measures in the Capital Investment Plan 2016 – 2021.”