949. Deputy Charles Ward asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation if he will review the manner in which national flood-risk mapping is applied at individual property level, particularly where a property is located within a mapped flood zone but has not itself experienced flooding and may benefit from existing or proposed flood-defence infrastructure; whether consideration is being given to property-specific flood-risk assessments that could be used by insurers and mortgage providers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62375/26]

The Government recognises that flood risk is an increasingly significant challenge, with implications for households, businesses, the insurance market, and the State. The Department of Finance has lead policy responsibility for matters in relation to Insurance, including flood insurance and has therefore prioritised reform in this area via the Action Plan for Insurance Reform 2025 - 2029. The Department of Finance has advised that it 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. In this light, the Government has recently agreed to the establishment of the Flood Insurance Protection Gap Working Group, which will assess various policy options to narrow the flood insurance protection gap. This approach will seek to ensure the market remains involved in the provision of cover and any proposed measure does not lead to a sharp increase in premiums, less risk reduction and fewer adaptation measures, lower risk awareness, or inadvertently widening rather than narrowing the insurance protection gaps over time.

The EU ‘Floods’ Directive requires a six yearly cyclical approach to the assessment of flood risks, including a preliminary flood risk assessment to identify areas of potentially significant flood risk (APSFRs), the preparation of flood hazard and flood risk maps for the identified APSFRs and the preparation of flood risk management plans.

The OPW flood risk maps are available to the public to view on the www.floodinfo.ie portal and the relevant maps are subject to ongoing review through a flood map review programme. It is important to note that the flood risk maps are community scale maps. The maps were not designed to designate individual properties at risk. The maps show the probable extent of flooding based on current and future projections. The Disclaimer and Conditions for Use of the OPW flood maps on www.floodinfo.ie includes a provision that users of the website must not use the flood maps, or any other content of the website for commercial purposes. As such, the Disclaimer prevents insurance companies from using the flood maps generated by the OPW.

The provision of flood insurance is a commercial matter for insurance companies, based on an actuarial assessment of the risks they are willing to accept. The insurance industry has its own flood modelling tools for assessing the level of risk that it is willing to underwrite in relation to individual properties. Insurance Ireland, the representative body of the insurance industry, has highlighted to the OPW that its members do not use the OPW flood maps to inform flood modelling. The decision on whether to offer insurance, the level of premiums charged and the policy terms applied are matters for individual insurers. Insurance companies make commercial decisions on the provision of insurance cover based on their assessment of the risks they would be accepting on a case-by-case basis. The Government cannot interfere in the provision or pricing of insurance, or direct as to what cover is provided, as is reinforced by the EU framework for insurance (Solvency II Directive).

In relation to the general issue of mortgages, the Department of Finance has advised that there is a broad legal and regulatory framework which governs the provision of residential mortgage credit to consumers. However, it is a commercial matter for individual lenders to determine their own lending policies and loan underwriting criteria, including in relation to the nature and type of collateral acceptable for mortgage lending purposes. The decision to grant or refuse a mortgage application, or to set any appropriate conditions which will have to be fulfilled in order to drawdown mortgage credit (such as a requirement on the prospective borrower to put in place an appropriate policy of insurance on the property which is to act as security for the mortgage loan) is a business matter for an individual lender.

The OPW has a role to assist insurance companies to take into account the protection provided by completed flood defence schemes. In this regard, the OPW has a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Insurance Ireland. The MOU sets out principles of how the two organisations work together to ensure that appropriate and relevant information on these completed schemes is provided to insurers to facilitate, to the greatest extent possible, the availability to the public of insurance against the risk of flooding in the defended areas. While the MOU does not guarantee the availability of insurance, Insurance Ireland members have committed to take into account all information provided by the OPW when assessing exposure to flood risk within these protected areas.

Insurance Ireland operates an Insurance Information Service for those who have queries, complaints or difficulties in relation to obtaining insurance, which can be contacted at 01 676 1820 or feedback@insuranceireland.eu. Similarly, Brokers Ireland, the representative body for insurance brokers in Ireland, has access to a wide range of providers and products, and can offer advice for customers when sourcing cover. Brokers Ireland can be reached at 01 661 3067. Furthermore, where an individual considers that they have been treated unfairly, they have the option of making a complaint to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (FSPO). The FSPO can be contacted either by email at info@fspo.ie or by telephone at 01 567 7000.