13-month delay in flood response letter

IT TOOK the former Government over a year to reply to a letter from Cork City Council about serious insurance issues arising from the flood which swamped the city in 2009.

The delay was strongly criticised by veteran Fine Gael councillor Jim Corr at Monday’s city council meeting when the long-awaited reply was finally presented.

“While acknowledging the serious financial disasters affecting the nation at the time, it must be clear the centralised administration in Dublin is not capable of responding in a reasonable period of time to serious problems affecting places far removed from the centre of power in Dublin,” Mr Corr said.

On January 29, 2010, just weeks after the November 2009 flood, the city council wrote to former Taoiseach Brian Cowen to highlight the insurance difficulties faced by people affected by the flood event.

The letter lay in the Taoiseach’s office for almost six months before it was forwarded, on July 27, 2010, to the Department of Finance for reply.

However, it took a further seven months for the department to write back.

The reply was finally received by the council’s corporate affairs section on February 22 last.

The former finance minister’s private secretary apologised for the delay which he said was due to the fact the matter had been under review for some time.

The letter said the Minister for Finance has no power to direct the insurance industry to provide cover, or to provide it at a particular price. The letter said the Government did examine the introduction of a scheme to protect householders who could not get insurance due to flooding.

“However, this approach was not considered financially viable because it was believed over time it would incentivise industry to discontinue the provision of cover in medium and high risk areas thus making the cost of such a scheme prohibitive,” it said.

The council was told it had been agreed by the Government that the Office of Public Works (OPW) continues its flood relief projects for worst affected areas and such an approach would represent the most “cost-effective” solution to the difficulties some people have in securing insurance cover.

The letter noted it had also been agreed the OPW would communicate regularly with the Irish insurance industry to help them assess the risks of flooding to homes and businesses.

Meanwhile, repair work on two flood-damaged quay walls in the heart of Cork city has yet to begin.