More than 70,000 Irish homes and premises - including over 1,000 in Co Mayo - are in danger of coastal flooding caused by climate change, according to new data compiled for the insurance industry.
Dublin, Louth and Clare would suffer the greatest damage in terms of numbers of properties affected, but the impact would be felt throughout all 14 coastal counties, according to the report from Irish firm Gamma Location Intelligence.
It shows that 3.9% of addressed in Dublin would be flooded during a future extreme weather event, while 4,500 properties in Galway, 1,020 Mayo properties and 610 in Sligon would be at risk of severe flooding.
The data shows that, based on average flood claims, the financial impact nationally of coastal flooding caused by climate change on properties alone would be €2 billion.
Current claims average around €21,000 for damage to homes and almost €81,000 for commercial properties.
That does not include loss of vehicles, belongings, disruption to business or the cost to the State of clean-ups and repairs to infrastructure.
