Insurance Industry
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-10
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Robert Troy (FF), Longford-Westmeath

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter again. I acknowledge that he has engaged with me on this on a number of occasions. I reiterate my earlier acknowledgement regarding the serious damage caused by the recent flood events and the impact they have had on families, communities and businesses across Ireland. As previously stated, insurance reform, including increasing the affordability and accessibility of insurance, including for flood insurance, remains a key priority for the Government. Building on the work carried out by the Central Bank, the Action Plan for Insurance Reform 2025-2029 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 on this work will be provided at the next Cabinet subgroup on insurance reform.
This work builds on the extensive research undertaken by the Central Bank of Ireland into the nature and scale of the flood protection gap in Ireland, which I mentioned earlier identified a flood insurance protection gap of approximately 5% of buildings in Ireland that have limited access to flood insurance. Flood insurance alone cannot address the totality of the flood protection gap and current Government policy remains focused on the development of a sustainable, planned and risk-based approach to managing flooding. As such, the Government remains committed to protecting Ireland's present and future generations by investing in climate adaption 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 to 2030. This will protect approximately 23,000 properties across various communities from river and coastal flood risk. My officials will continue to monitor developments at EU and international level and assess flood insurance matters, including through participation in the OPW and Insurance Ireland working group. These matters remain a priority for this Government and efforts continue to be made to encourage a responsive approach from the insurance industry.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-10/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:36+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-10