Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to address the Dáil on the Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2011, which was published in early September. Owing to changes in EU law on the non-life insurance sector since the fund was last used, it was necessary for the Minister to seek legal advice on current legislation. On 4 October, a deal will be done between Liberty Mutual Direct and Anglo Irish Bank. The Bill will assist the deal in going through and will secure the 1,600 jobs at stake in the Quinn Group.

I am a part of this ongoing saga. On Good Friday of last year, we were called to a meeting on the future of the Quinn Group. At the time, I represented Roscommon-South Leitrim, which included Ballinamore and Carrigallen. Seán Quinn's role in the area was important. According to one person, the area was only good for snipe grass. However, Seán Quinn set up a quarry many years ago and took on the vested interests in the cement and glass cartels and the insurance industry. He created jobs in an area that otherwise would never have had them. He gave young people an opportunity to up-skill so that they would not need to go to Belfast, Dublin, London or New York, as was usual at the time. They could work, be involved and have futures in their localities. Irrespective of whether we like him, Seán Quinn gave people the opportunity to regenerate their localities.

Seán Quinn made many enemies in the insurance and financial industries because he proved that he could outdo the old establishment, be it in the City of London, Frankfurt or Dublin. He was not a popular person within those industries. He had a team of young people who excelled in delivering a service. A young person could not get insurance many years ago. I was a named driver on my father's licence for 25 years because insurance would have cost me £1,700 or £1,800. Seán Quinn took on the established groups.

Deputy Ó Caoláin correctly stated that the group attending our meetings was cross-Border, cross-party and cross-community. We agreed that the retention of jobs was paramount at all times, that the €2.8 billion Seán Quinn owed to Anglo Irish Bank would be repaid to the Irish taxpayer, that the company would retain competitiveness in the insurance industry and that existing policyholders would be protected. We met the administrators and the staff, who were fearful for their jobs. We also met the management team, Seán Quinn, the Financial Regulator, the Minister for Finance and the National Treasury Management Agency, NTMA. Everyone seemed to have a different story.

I pay tribute to Deputy Ó Caoláin for convening our group. He was forensic and fair in managing the group's work and he included people from all sides. He played a major role in seeking answers, given the wide gulf. To this day, they have not been answered. Whenever we attended meetings with Seán Quinn and his management team, they had opinions on what was the right model.

When we met officials from Anglo Irish Bank and other institutions, such as the Financial Regulator, we were presented with a completely conflicting view. To this day, we have still not got to the bottom of it. The current Financial Regulator has done a very good job. I told him when I met him it was a pity he was not in place six or seven years theretofore when the regulation was of such a light touch. We were told then the way forward was international finance and we lost sight of real economic activity, including agriculture and the creative industries. Our economic activity involved selling houses to one another. The then Government and Financial Regulator believed this was right. Perhaps we all thought we would have an easy ride but we ended up where we are.

Seán Quinn made the mistake of trying to own his own bank. He was duped by the chairman of Anglo Irish Bank, Mr. Seán Fitzpatrick. He wanted to take on the banking industry and made a huge mistake. The country is paying for it and many of his employees have been left in a very vulnerable position. Having said that, however, Seán Quinn made a huge difference at the time in question to an area that would not otherwise have had a fair crack of the whip.

I am delighted Liberty Mutual has decided to buy the Quinn group. In the past six months, many of the staff have been quite pleased they have a future under an international insurance company. However, there is resistance from unnamed elements, who have caused a certain amount of trouble by cutting communication lines. There is no place in this society for those kinds of actions. The cross-Border, cross-party group has stated very strongly that the way forward is working with all the stakeholders to ensure the jobs are retained.

The insurance compensation fund only contains €40 million. Whatever we give to the fund will be repaid to the Exchequer. This has happened before. A levy was introduced in 1984 following the collapse of PMPA in October 1983.

The Minister has decided to exclude health insurance from the scope of the scheme. The main player in the market, the VHI, is not authorised by the Central Bank. Huge difficulties face people in private insurance schemes and many are going without private insurance because they simply cannot afford it. The costs have increased. There are far too many cosy cartels and far too many consultants getting paid four times more than those in other areas. The Minister for Health is examining this. There is far too much waste.

Many young couples do not have the money to insure their own houses. Many businesses do not have the money to insure themselves. The only reason they are being insured is because the banks are putting on pressure in this regard. Houses and businesses are being insured not because it is right to do so but because the banks want to ensure they have a hold on them if something happens to them. This is a considerable problem. The Minister should set up a team to investigate it.

I would like to believe politicians on both sides of the Border will try, on a cross-party basis, to deal with this very difficult problem, not by throwing political missiles at one another but by working together to ensure 1,600 jobs are retained. I thank the Minister for his interventions, which I hope will secure the jobs.

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