Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister very much for his reply which clarifies that the premiums paid by policyholders to Setanta Insurance are gone and none of the funds open in respect of claims can deal with the issue of refunding premium payments which have been made. The lesson for insurance consumers is to check immediately whether the company providing their insurance is regulated in Ireland. It will come as news to a great many people they have an insurance policy in Ireland which is provided by a firm which is not regulated here and the Central Bank of Ireland has no role whatsoever in prudential supervision. This is a risk and exposure. While the new system of pan-European supervision and regulation gets up and running and becomes stronger consumers must deal with this risk. If anything, greater awareness of the potential exposure faced by people having a policy provided by a company not regulated in Ireland is something we should all learn.

See this speech in context