Ireland flood cover threat

President of the Irish Insurance Federation (IIF) and Zurich Ireland’s CEO Patrick Manley has warned that government must build better flood defences or areas that flood regularly will become "uninsurable", the Tribune reports.

"We live on an island. The island is in the Atlantic Ocean. It rains here. We know some parts of the country will flood," he told the Sunday Tribune. "If we don't put defences there, everybody else in the country has to accept that their premiums will have to reflect that danger. You risk certain parts of the country becoming uninsurable," he said.

"You see the same premises, the same streets, the same time of year – it comes to a stage where insurance can cover you for most perils, but we can't ask other policy-holders to keep paying for floods," he said. "Insurance works perfectly for the event that can happen, but is not predicted to happen."