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

The main point I would put to the Minister is that he should appoint somebody to examine this whole saga with a view to bringing in changes if this happens in the future. In view of the way insurance companies can passport in their services, they can be regulated primarily in another European country and regulated here for conduct of business purposes only. We are at the mercy of the strength of the regulation in another country. It is being standardised with a new European directive and so forth but that will take time to settle down.

The reality is that there are 1,700 individual stories involved here. They are very human stories and some of them are harrowing. I have seen solicitors' letters sent to many of the Setanta policyholders who were involved in accidents whereby they were being personally threatened that they would be held liable themselves, including by way of a judgment mortgage against their home if a payout was not made. That is the human dimension of this. It is not satisfactory that almost a year and a half on these people have no clarity as to where they stand.

It is a fact that the Attorney General advised that the MIBI was not responsible. The High Court subsequently found in the other direction, that, ultimately, whatever the outcome, the MIBI's policyholders are going to pay, whether it be through the insurance compensation fund by way of the 2% levy or the MIBI members who will simply pass it on to policyholders. The Minister needs to take account of, and learn from, this experience and get all the parties together to ensure that if something like this happens again, there will be a much better and more efficient way of dealing with a liquidation scenario.

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