philip r lane : opening of ireland's central bank dockland campus exhibitions speech by mr philip r lane, governor of the central bank of ireland, at the opening of ireland's central bank dockland campus exhibitions, dublin, 27 april 2017. * * * i am delighted that you could join us this evening to celebrate the opening of our visitor centre with two exciting and complementary exhibitions : the euro exhibition and pounds, shillings and independence. i am particularly delighted that stephanie van delft of the communications directorate at the european central bank is here with us this evening. stephanie, along with director general communications, christine graeff, deputy director communications, thierry bracke and director banknotes, ton roos was instrumental in sharing the euro exhibition with us. but why a visitor space in a central bank, you may ask? there is a simple answer to that question : we want people to understand what we do and why we do it, in order to facilitate greater transparency and understanding of our public service role. central banks across the world moved to the front pages of the newspapers in 2008 and have largely stayed there ever since. in that time, there has been extensive debate about monetary policy, financial stability policy and many other aspects of central banking that were previously considered arcane knowledge. but while the effects of ecb or federal reserve or national central bank decisions are widely reported upon and communicated, there is less focus on the motivation for those decisions. the central bank of ireland ’ s mandate is very clear : safeguarding stability, protecting consumers. every decision we take is in the public interest – albeit some of those actions may not be universally popular! explaining the rationale for those evidence - based decisions is important to us. while central bank independence is enshrined in the institutional and legislative framework of the european union, as well as domestic law, the flipside of that independence is accountability. and as a public institution, we take our obligations to be fully accountable for our actions very seriously. communications and accountability are therefore key components of our strategic plan 2016 – 2018. we demonstrate that accountability in several ways : our annual report and annual performance statement will be published next week ; we engage with oireachtas committees ; we publish minutes of our commission meetings ; we disclose operational information on our website ; and we explain our policies through a series of public speaking events and topical publications. the visitor space is another important element of that accountability. we share this vision with dublin city council, which requires that landmark

baseline of expectations for insurers to start and progress from, and provides a practical framework to help insurers address climate change risks in their business and assist in developing their governance and risk management frameworks. more recently, the central bank undertook research into the nature and scale of the flood protection gap in ireland, taking into consideration both the picture today and how that picture might change in future. in our analysis, we identified how many homes and businesses in ireland are unlikely to obtain flood cover. some key findings : approximately 1 in 20 buildings have difficulty accessing flood insurance today. the estimated average annual cost of inland flooding is €101m. severe losses can be much higher than this, with a €510m loss expected about once every 25 years. ireland is likely to see significantly more rainfall in the future due to climate change, increasing the likelihood of flood events and potentially widening the gap. we hope that this analysis helps to inform the debate on the flood protection gap in ireland, and recognise that addressing this issue requires work from a broad range of stakeholders. and we look forward to further engagement with stakeholders over the coming months on this important topic and we will continue to play our part in identifying and managing the risks arising from the consequences of climate change. i think it also goes without saying that this work highlights the multifaceted impacts of climate change as they relate to our mandate. it secondly highlights the necessary engagement amongst a broad spectrum of stakeholders to address climate related issues. and it also makes clear that while climate driven protection gaps are one part of the equation, equally there is a need to also ensure investment in sustainable activities – with a whole balance sheet approach needed by the sector, to mirror the whole of economy approach needed by policymakers. to briefly return to today's event, addressing the climate challenge will never be achieved with the un or the central bank operating in isolation. the financial system has a key leadership role in facilitating the flow of capital to sustainable activities and addressing the risks arising from climate changes, and we all need to be part of the conversation. this why the convening powers of our two organisations is so important and it is great to see the varied stakeholders coming together for today's summit – and indeed through the rest of the week's events. once again we are delighted to host you today, and let me hand back to you butch for your opening remarks. 3 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches 1 with thanks to philip brennan and cian