Government should fund insurance scheme for flood-prone homes – Wicklow-Wexford TD
The Wicklow PeopleA Wicklow-Wexford TD has called on the government to not just provide emergency relief payments for those affected by flooding, but to set up a state insurance scheme that could cover homes affected by flooding that are unlikely to be covered by private home insurers in the future.
Fine Gael TD Brian Brennan has said that if the state is granting planning permission for homes in flood-prone areas, there needs to be an affordable, state-managed scheme to insure them when private companies will not.
Going a step further, his constituency colleague Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin has said that the severe flooding in Arklow and Aughrim this week ‘could have been prevented’, as the Sinn Féin TD called on Minister Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran to advance flood relief works in Aughrim particularly.
The minister visited Aughrim this week in the aftermath of the floods, caused by heavy rainfall on Tuesday that led to the Avoca River bursting its banks in Arklow and the Aughrim River overflowing in Aughrim, which has devastated the village, leaving many residential estates underwater.
The local community came together to support one another, and a rest centre was set up in the Pavilion, with the villagers and officials remaining on high alert as Status Yellow rainfall warnings remained in place across Thursday and Friday.
A substantial clean-up operation got underway in earnest on Friday, with the local Tidy Towns group organiser a big community drive to help those affected from 10am today.
Though floodwaters did recede on Friday, the village was put on high alert again last night and Deputy Ó Súilleabháin said the shock will be felt for a long time.
“Wednesday saw devastating scenes throughout the east coast, particularly in my constituency of Wicklow–Wexford. Arklow, Aughrim and Bunclody are just a few areas where we saw businesses and homes destroyed, with a massive clean-up operation now required,” he said
“This could have been prevented if flood relief schemes had been in place. Arklow’s flood relief plan is currently at the detailed design stage, with construction expected to begin in quarter three of 2026.”
He added: “With regard to Aughrim, there is a long-term flood relief plan in place, but with the changes in our weather patterns, these schemes need to be completed more quickly.”
Deputy Ó Súilleabháin has urged the minister to engage with and work alongside Wicklow County Council to advance the necessary works for Aughrim.
These sentiments have been echoed by Deputy Ó Súilleabháin’s constituency colleague Brian Brennan, who believes the Government needs to implement an insurance scheme for householders impacted by flooding in the region.
An Emergency Response Payment has been made available to support householders in County Wicklow affected by Storm Chandra.
The scheme, administered by the Department of Social Protection, provides financial support to those whose homes have been damaged by the severe weather conditions.
These come in three stages, with stage one available now and not income testing, offering cover for immediate essentials such as food, clothing and bedding. Further support will be available in stages two and three for replacing household items and essential structural repairs.
Affected householders can access supports by contacting the Community Welfare Service, on: 0818 60 70 80.
However, Deputy Brian Brennan says it’s “simply appalling to see the damage done to people’s lives by the floods over recent days” and that this emergency measure is not enough.
“In Aughrim many homes have been destroyed by floodwaters with families losing everything,” said the Fine Gael TD.
“For many of these people, they will no longer be able to get insurance to cover the cost of these damages or, if they have been flooded before, they may not have insurance right now. This is simply not fair.
“Every home in this country was built with planning permission granted by the state, so to be excluded from insurance due to events totally out of their control is wrong.”
Deputy Brennan is calling on the Government to work with insurance companies in the Irish market to implement a state managed scheme that makes flood cover more widely available and affordable.
ready to respond to the ongoing flooding situation as issues may occur” as they issued a warning of high river flooding alerts in nine towns and villages.Wicklow County Council said on Friday that their teams remain vigilant and “
Revealing that nearly 80mm of rain fell in the county from Thursday, January 22 to Wednesday, January 28, the local authority said the towns flooded on Tuesday, Aughrim and Arklow, remain at high risk of a repeat over the February bank holiday weekend, with seven further locations also at increased risk.
Due to the high risk of flooding for the Avoca, Vartry and Slaney River catchment areas, Baltinglass, Delgany, Greystones, Kilcoole, Newtownmountkennedy, Rathnew and Wicklow town were all put on high alert on Friday evening.
Crews are out making repairs to damaged roads, pipes, and manholes and the local authority continues to engage with business owners and residents.
The local authority is urging the public to drive carefully, as weather events and flooding have caused debris to be washed onto road surfaces and damage has been caused, and to never drive through floodwater or bypass a road closed sign.