Flood group: Insurers acting like a cartel

Up to 50,000 Irish homes have either no flood cover or are at serious risk of losing it, while insurance companies operate a cartel to maximise their profits, an Oireachtas committee heard yesterday.

Thousands of houses cannot be mortgaged, are effectively worthless, uninsurable, and in many cases unsaleable, the joint committee on environment, culture, and the Gaeltacht heard.

Delegates from the Irish National Flood Forum said the value of homes and businesses in risk areas has plummeted since the series of floods that have struck parts of the country since 2009.