EU review may involve states

The Irish insurance industry says an EU review of how the European insurance market protects against flooding and other natural disasters could result in a greater state role, the Irish Examiner reports.

Ireland South MEP, Seán Kelly convinced EU Internal Market Commissioner, Michael Barnier to review the European insurance market’s response to severe weather

"The insurance market has failed the people of Cork city, Clonmel, Skibbereen and Bandon. It is not acceptable that insurance costs rise six-fold overnight and that people must live in constant fear of their livelihoods," the Fine Gael MEP said.

Uninsurable areas

The paper quoted an insurance spokesman saying: "There will be areas that are uninsurable unless major work is carried out by the authorities. We are being blamed for not insuring people or increasing premiums but the local authorities need to pull their weight too and the planners.

“There are many rivers in this country that have not been dredged as they should have been and houses built in unsuitable locations. We also have huge areas of ground being concreted over and subsequently there is no drainage against storm waters.

"However, if these catastrophic events are to become more frequent, we may be heading towards a situation where we have state involvement in catastrophic cover as risk will be too high. I don’t want to pre-empt the review but this might be where we are heading".

Tougher rules in Scotland

"The guidelines suggest that planning could be allowed in areas prone to one-in-50-year flooding. In Scotland, they don’t allow planning in areas prone to one-in-200-year flooding."