Insurance Industry
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-10
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Eoin Hayes (SD), Dublin Bay South

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit. With respect, I am not asking about flood defences. I am asking about the reinsurance scheme and a State-backed reinsurance scheme. The article I referenced stated: "Businesses and homeowners within certain pockets of Dublin, such as along the River Dodder, where several flood defence schemes have been developed in recent years, remain unable to obtain insurance." This is a real issue.
In the letter the Minister of State sent to me last year, he said:
In terms of the provision of flood insurance, please be aware that this is a commercial matter for insurance companies based on an assessment of the risks they are willing to accept. Government cannot interfere with the provision or pricing of insurance or direct as to what cover is provided is reinforced by the EU framework for insurance solvency II directive.
Apparently, the State can after all get involved in reinsurance schemes. From the outset, I had issues with the Government's position because the solvency II directive allows for general price controls. Many other countries have done it. Consorcio de Compensación de Seguros in Spain, Caisse Centrale de Réassurance, CCR, state insurance providers in France and even VHI here in Ireland are exempt from the directive. Is it Government evasion and a lack of ambition at play here and not regulatory constraints?

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Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

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