The prospect that buildings could be required to allow flooding on a regular basis has disturbed the insurance and construction sectors. It is being considered as part of the national climate change adaptation review, to be completed in 2009.

Gormley told the Sunday Tribune that Ireland needed to reduce its reliance on traditional flood defences, such as coastal protection works and flood barriers. He also indicated that he was considering changing planning regulations: "If we continue to build on flood plains, we're asking for trouble."

A spokesman for the department said that the review would consider where hard engineering solutions such as barriers or "soft solutions" such as accommodating flooding would be used in the future.

"Hard engineering solutions are very expensive and they may not work in all cases, " he said. "You have to consider is it worth putting in coastal defences for small areas of farmland?" He refused to comment on whether the department was considering a blanket ban on building on flood plains.

Michael Horan of the Irish Insurance Federation said flood defences are a necessity: "Insurance is about covering against the risk, not dealing with the certainty of flooding. There are a lot of existing properties that are built on flood plains and areas that are vulnerable to flooding. The risk of flooding must be minimised for the sake of the householders and businesses there."

Don O'Sullivan of the Construction Industry Federation said he was concerned by Gormley's plans: "Where development is deemed to be required in an area likely to flood, properly engineered solutions must be provided as part of the development to ensure the risk of flooding is minimised."