On Thursday last we had statements on flooding and flood prevention measures when the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Brian Hayes, was present. Senator Barrett and I raised the issue of insurance cover with him. I am concerned that there are areas in Cork and elsewhere where flood cover is not available because of a flooding history in the area. The Office of Public Works and the Irish Insurance Federation need to negotiate protocols. The Minister of State told the House bluntly that he was very frustrated at the lack of progress he is making with the Irish Insurance Federation. The effect of his comments was that one can bring the Irish Insurance Federation to the table but it is not engaging.

Yesterday the Irish Insurance Federation appeared before the Joint Committee on the Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht, under the chairmanship of Deputy Ciarán Lynch, and said the Office of Public Works needs to communicate reliable information to it and it needs to have confidence in the OPW's review. That indicates it does not have confidence in the OPW. Within one week two views have been communicated to the Houses and in the meantime individuals, businesses and households cannot get insurance because they are in a flood risk area. I ask the Leader to convey the comments of the Irish Insurance Federation to the Minister of State who expressed a different view on Thursday last and have the matter resolved in order that those on the ground can move forward because they are frustrated.

I wish to follow up on what the Senator has just said in regard to the insurance industry. I am concerned that local authorities have not corresponded with the Irish Insurance Federation outlining what action they have taken to ensure there is not a repeat of the flood event that occurred in Cork. A councillor had a question tabled to one of the local authorities in the past week and the response was that the local authority felt it had no obligation to correspond with the Irish Insurance Federation. That is appalling because these are people who are experiencing difficulty in getting insurance. The Office of Public Works and local authorities should correspond with the Irish Insurance Federation and set out what action they have taken in order that there is not a repeat of the flood event that occurred in the past 12 months to two years.

I had a sad case recently where an elderly gentleman who came to my office understood he had full insurance cover. When he submitted a claim he was told by the insurance company that the first €10,000 was not claimable; the old rule was €1,000. We argued with the insurance company that this was unfair. He got no letter advising him that the excess had been increased from €1,000 to €10,000. I ask the insurance industry to be careful in how it manages its own affairs. We argued with the company and insisted on the claim, other than the €1,000, being paid and eventually it gave in. This elderly man had to engage other people to fight for what he was entitled to. That was appalling behaviour by the insurance industry which collects a good deal of money from householders and to behave in this way is unfair. Returning to the earlier issue I ask the Minister to correspond with local authorities requesting them to write to the Irish Insurance Federation setting out what action they have taken, as well as getting the Office of Public Works to do likewise.

Following on from the two previous speakers I call on the insurance industry to update and issue a new charter and code of practice. It is a matter of concern that a situation can arise where a person is of the view that he or she is covered for everything in excess of €1,000 and then it becomes in excess of €10,000. In simple language that can be described as sharp practice, that is, an insurance company chancing its arm by taking advantage of a vulnerable citizen for greed.

I welcome the comments on "Morning Ireland" today by Michael Fuchs, vice-president of Angela Merkel's party, who strongly supported the concept of a renegotiated debt scenario for Ireland. With such powerful people in our corner we will see clear blue water in this area.

I support calls to the Leader for a debate on the report on alcoholism published yesterday. We have a serious problem. However, I am not happy at the notion that it will be later than 2016 before sporting events are banned from using drinks companies to fund themselves. Drinks company advertisements should be banned from the national airwaves. As a society we will have to seriously consider raising the legal age for consuming alcohol to 21, as in other countries. We have a serious problem.