Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Setanta was placed in liquidation by the Malta Financial Services Authority on 30 April 2014. This liquidation is being carried out under Maltese law. As of 31 December 2016, the number of open claims is 1,664. Progress in the liquidation has been delayed due to court proceedings in the case of Law Society of Ireland v.the MIBI. The current position is that we are awaiting the outcome the MIBI appeal which was heard before the Supreme Court in October 2016.

A small number of additional claims are not affected by the court proceedings and are being processed by the Office of the Accountant of the Courts of Justice. The Insurance Compensation Fund has recently been able to make 65% payments totalling €608,085 on first-party claims made by Setanta policyholders for comprehensive insurance claims. These payments are possible as they are first-party claims which come within the ICF remit, rather than third-party claims delayed by the Supreme Court proceedings. The liquidator for Setanta has informed me that cClaims provision required stands at between €87.7 million and €95.2 million; Setanta policies were cancelled in May 2014. The two years allowable under the Statute of Limitations to lodge claims has expired so the claims figures will not increase further; the liquidator reports that it is proving difficult to settle claims in advance of the outcome of the MIBI appeal; and the liquidator continues to be of the view that he will not be in a position to meet more than 30% of claims.

With regard to the implementation of the motor insurance framework, work on the heads of a Bill is progressing with a view to bringing them to Government in the second quarter of this year. The key change to be proposed is that the level of cover from the ICF for third-party motor insurance claims will increase from 65% to 100%, in line with that currently provided by MIBI. The increased coverage will be funded, to the value of 35% of the third-party motor insurance claims, by a direct contribution to the ICF from the motor insurance industry. Discussions are ongoing with THE industry about funding arrangements to meet this obligation.

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