Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I support section 5. A question was asked about MIBI earlier and it was said that it only pays out in respect of uninsured drivers, but it will also pay out in insolvent cases. I just wanted to make that clear because I do not think that information was correct on the record. The difference here is because it administers the insurance compensation or the motor insurance insolvency compensation fund through the previous legislative changes we made in the wake of the Setanta Insurance scandal, just to bear that in mind and for the Deputies’ attention.

Regarding the compensation body, it is currently doing both. That was the point. This is a natural fit and I support this. MIBI is a State organisation. MIBI is funded through levies placed on the insurance industry. We will come to that later because there is another section that allows us to look at partial funds and all the rest. The Central Bank is also there in terms of payment to MIBI.

This legislation allows basically that all residents here will be able to apply to MIBI in the case of an insolvent firm. If, for example, the firm the claim was made against is a French firm, MIBI will seek reimbursement from the French firm or Italian firm or whomever.

It cuts out the bureaucracy, which is brilliant for the individual who has been involved in an accident or a claim. That is fine. The principle here is that, at the end of the day, when it is all sorted out between the firms within the compensation bodies, it is where the insurance entity is located that it is decided who will ultimately foot the bill. Were we to have a very high concentration or large proportion of those entities in Ireland, would there be any concern regarding potential exposure? I know that if we were to have a high concentration, I assume we would also have a higher concentration in terms of the levies. Therefore, one may equalise the other. Is there any consideration of that potential exposure? Obviously, the State has been very successful in certain areas and the concentration regarding different types of activities and firms. For example, say 50% of insurance firms were headquartered here. Would there be any concern about exposure because it would mean, across Europe, in the event of liquidation or something like that, the claims would all arise from Ireland?