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

The residents of Sandymount, Ringsend, Merrion and coastal communities across Dublin cannot afford another disaster and delayed action from the Government. A Financial Times article from last year and University of Galway's studies have noted that Ireland's coastal cities face huge risks during future storms. Sandymount would have been submerged in approximately 5 m in Storm Éowyn if a high tide occurred at the time. It is time for reinsurance models that include not just businesses but also people's homes to protect people's lives as well as their livelihoods. It is time the Government stopped using the excuses of EU regulation or the insurance companies not doing enough or flood defences having to take care of the risk and get on with the responsibility of protection for the coastal communities that need it in terms of reinsurance schemes. People know what climate change means. It was mostly riverside communities affected in recent weeks, but coastal communities know that they will face some of the most extreme challenges in the future. Will the Minister of State illuminate whether his comments to the Business Post were accurate, whether the Government is considering a State-backed scheme and whether that is something that it will be delivering over the coming weeks and months?

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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