EU Commissioner will look at flood insurance
EUROLINK
Thursday February 25 2010
THE new EU Employment Commissioner has vowed to examine the issue of property insurance for people who live in floodprone areas.
Commissioner Laszlo Andor discussed the topic made during a meeting this week with Irish MEP Seán Kelly. The Munster MEP outlined the difficulties being experienced by Irish people in light of the recent flooding across large swathes of the country.
"Thousands of homes and businesses were destroyed in places like Gort, Ballinasloe, Ennis, Clonmel, Bandon, Killarney and Cork city," said Mr Kelly.
"I explained to the Commissioner that whatever about immediate compensation, many of the people living in these areas cannot get property insurance as the flooding of their homes is nearly an annual issue."
Commissioner Laszlo promised to look at the situation in other countries and work towards a practical plan to ensure that insurance companies make affordable insurance available in areas at risk of flooding.
"People need to be protected - if they claim for insurance because of a natural disaster like flooding, then they should not be exempted from further coverage in the future," said the Fine Gael MEP. Credit unions included in EU loan scheme IRISH credit unions will soon able to award up to €25,000 in loans to small and start-up businesses under an EU scheme being rolled out. The European Microfinance Fund was announced in Brussels last December and will see a total of €100 million being made available through financial institutions across all member states over the next four years.
Credit unions were initially excluded from the initiative, however a proposal to include them tabled by Irish MEP Marian Harkin has this week been accepted by the European Parliament. The Independent MEP said she was 'particularly pleased' that her request to include credit unions in the scheme was voted through. "These loans will now be available to small entrepreneurs or people who have lost their job and are struggling to access credit through other financial institutions," she said.
The EU Microfinance Fund is targeted towards small businesses employing less than ten people, with an annual turnover not larger than €10 million. Irish dads need EU law on paternity leave NEW dads should be entitled to a standard EUwide paternity leave after the birth or adoption of their baby, MEPs said in Strasbourg this week.
In its annual resolution on gender equality, the European Parliament pointed out that although maternity leave and parental leave are covered in EU directives, there is no basic legislation allowing fathers to spend time off work.
Paternity laws vary widely, but Irish fathers fare the worst, with no legal entitlement to either paid or unpaid leave. Men in Spain and Holland get two days' paid leave; Sweden, Italy, France, Austria and Britain allow two weeks, while Iceland tops the list as the most family-friendly country with three months paid leave.
- Jessie Magee
