Mr. Michael Garvey:

I thank the Chairman and members of the committee for inviting IPB Insurance to participate in discussions on the topic of indemnity and participants, including volunteers, in various State and EU-funded schemes. I am accompanied by our director of underwriting, Mr. Matt Rafferty and our head of claims, Mr. Michael Whelehan. We look forward to engaging with the committee and hope that we can be of assistance in this morning's discussion.

By way of introduction to those who may not be familiar with IPB Insurance, I will take this opportunity to provide a brief history and background to the company. The name IPB is an acronym for "Irish Public Bodies", stemming from our position as the mutual insurer of public bodies and local authorities in Ireland. Today, IPB is the only wholly Irish-owned mutual insurer in the market.

The story of IPB's origins and early development is inextricably bound up in the challenges that faced the first Government of the Irish Free State in the 1920s. The rationale for the creation of Irish Public Bodies was the realisation by the State that profits generated from the premiums paid by a large number of Irish public bodies were resulting in net capital outflows from the State.

IPB was, therefore, established in 1926 to protect the insurable interests of its members, which have evolved over time and now consist of the State's local authorities, education and training boards, regional assemblies and the HSE. We also protect a range of State, semi-State and public service-related organisations.

As a mutual entity, our ethos and business model means that we are not motivated by growth or profit. Our motivation is to protect the insurable interests of our members and related stakeholders in a responsible and sustainable manner for their mutual benefit.

We are a specialist insurer within the liability insurance market. Our risk appetite is reflective of our members' risk profile and similar risks closely aligned to our members' activities. We operate in niche markets within our stated risk appetite, including State and semi-State organisations and agencies, such as health, education, sport, community-focused services and other areas of service to the public.

IPB provides a wide range of products designed to protect members, such as public liability, employers' liability, property and motor fleet. We also provide additional covers to address new and emerging risks, such as cyber and data security and environmental impairment protection. A key feature of our approach is that we continuously evolve our product and risk management solutions to reflect the changing risk profile of our members and to ensure that we have the capacity to transfer all their insurance risk and exposure from their balance sheet to ours.

We also provide a range of additional services to members free of charge, including risk management solutions through our dedicated risk management team. We provide ongoing training to members and non-members through nationwide risk conferences, risk remediation supports and insurance clinics. We also provide a contractor insurance advisory service, as well as other features and benefits, including risk guides and risk training videos. Over the past six years, we have delivered risk management seminars and conferences to in excess of 10,000 delegates from member and client operations.

In relation to the topic for discussion this morning, IPB Insurance provides a range of insurance covers for State-EU funded schemes, including community employment schemes, the rural social scheme, RSS, and Tús, the community work placement scheme.

IPB Insurance has been insuring employment schemes such as the RSS and Tús since 2014. We acquired this business through a competitive process within the insurance market by an appointed insurance broker. IPB Insurance provides insurance cover to these schemes in the areas of public liability, employers' liability, personal accident, property and special types of motor insurance. Since 2017, IPB Insurance has been insuring a number of community employment schemes. Again, this business was secured following a competitive process through an insurance broker. We provide employers' liability insurance, public liability insurance, fidelity guarantee insurance, professional indemnity insurance and employers' practices liability insurance to these schemes. We insure approximately 17,000 individuals participating across all three schemes, which are broadly involved in similar community-based work activities, including clerical work, shop assistance, care work and crèche assistance. The services provided to the elderly include house and attic insulation, light repairs, DIY, day care and meals on wheels. The community projects that are supported include Tidy Towns projects, the care and maintenance of community centres and sports clubs, the upkeep of common community areas and canal or river walks, hedge cutting, wall building and light construction projects at heritage or community-owned properties.

Our mutual ethos is centred around our members. We understand the important role we play in protecting our members to give them peace of mind and the freedom to focus on delivering for their local communities. We are actively involved in supporting social and community initiatives through Government and member partnerships. We are co-funding a €1.6 million programme with the Department of Rural and Community Development to support social enterprises nationwide. This involves working with members of local authorities. I thank the Chairman again for the opportunity to attend this morning's meeting. We look forward to assisting the committee in this morning’s discussions and addressing any questions it may have.