Major flood relief works were undertaken in north Cork in the towns of Fermoy and Mallow and, having been tried and tested in the past 12 months, these defence works have worked successfully, but many householders and businesses have since seen their insurance renewal applications refused and the list is getting longer. When will the promised legislation to deal with this problem be brought before the House? It is very hard for businesses to operate on a daily basis knowing that, should other issues arise, they will have no cover.

The flooding of the past few years has been mentioned on a number of occasions by many Deputies and the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, has been looking into the issue of rising insurance costs. The problem is exacerbated by defences that are demountable. I know of cases in which people had insurance cover before the defences were put up, but it has since been refused. Discussions have been held with insurance companies about the matter. I remind the Deputy that €1 billion is on the table for a programme to deal with flood defences which I am glad have been successful in Fermoy and Mallow. A huge operation is to go ahead in Cork where the Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Seán Canney, was yesterday. I visited Craughwell, County Galway, yesterday. It was badly flooded last year and active work is being undertaken by the OPW and engineering firms which will take three years to complete. I will find out what the position is on legislation. We have had this issue before with insurance companies and need to follow up on it.