Results 24,001-24,020 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan

Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (28 Sep 2011)

Michael Noonan: Yes, it is excluded also.

Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (28 Sep 2011)

Michael Noonan: Yes.

Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (28 Sep 2011)

Michael Noonan: Yes.

Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (28 Sep 2011)

Michael Noonan: It came into force in 1991.

Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (28 Sep 2011)

Michael Noonan: This is a technical provision which makes a number of minor cross-referencing changes to section 2 of the Insurance Act 1964 consequential on the amendments made in this Bill. The purpose of this is to ensure the legislation holds together after these amendments have been made.

Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (28 Sep 2011)

Michael Noonan: Section 4 replaces section 3 of the Insurance Act 1964 and introduces three new sections: 3A on the application by the liquidator of an insolvent insurer; 3B on an application where the insurer in liquidation is an insurer authorised in another member state; and 3C on the payments out of the fund where an administrator is appointed. These provisions are designed to facilitate payments out of...

Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (28 Sep 2011)

Michael Noonan: I will deal with the 65% question first and then the 70% one. The purpose of an insurance compensation fund in a liquidation situation is to provide a certain minimum level of protection to policyholders. There is a need to strike a balance between what policyholders will receive in compensation and what the cost of such payments will be, as ultimately funding for such compensation will be...

Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (28 Sep 2011)

Michael Noonan: I do not think anybody is being treated unfairly because there is a compensation fund in the UK as well. A company in Northern Ireland would have access to the UK fund, so I do not think we need to be too concerned about that. I do not think there are considerations of State aid in this. As I said already, the EU is considering a compensation fund which would apply throughout the Community.

Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (28 Sep 2011)

Michael Noonan: I am advised that the 70% marker includes all the large companies that trade in the State. However, it is also part of the section that the 70% is averaged over three years. Therefore the possibility of somebody getting caught on the basis of one-year figures would not arise. A Northern Ireland company will not have access to liquidation provisions if its business model was not...

Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (28 Sep 2011)

Michael Noonan: Section 5 repeals section 4 of the Insurance Act 1964 which is obsolete as it relates to a specific insolvency in 1964, namely the insolvency of the Equitable Insurance Company Limited. This provision allowed the Minister for Finance to provide a grant of £30,000 to the fund out of moneys provided by the Houses of the Oireachtas under section 3 of the existing legislation, to the liquidator...

Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (28 Sep 2011)

Michael Noonan: Section 6 is a technical provision that makes a cross-reference change to section 5 of the Insurance Act 1964, consequential on the amendments made in this Bill.

Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (28 Sep 2011)

Michael Noonan: Section 7 replaces section 6 of the Insurance Act 1964. The section sets out the conditions for the levying of insurance companies in relation to the Insurance Compensation Fund. The provision sets out a number of elements including the following - the Central Bank continues to be responsible for assessing the fund from time to time to see if it needs financial support. In addition, it...

Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (28 Sep 2011)

Michael Noonan: I am not proposing any changes in the stamp duty but all such issues are budgetary issues and it would not be done in mid-year in any case. Subsection (1) makes the Central Bank responsible for assessing the fund from time to time to see if it needs financial support. It can determine the appropriate contribution to be paid to the fund by each insurer up to an amount not exceeding 2% of the...

Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (28 Sep 2011)

Michael Noonan: There have been levies before so the industry will be familiar with the Insurance Compensation Fund and the 1964 legislation. I think the levies lapsed some time in the early 1990s so the companies would be familiar with the situation. The main requirement of the domestic industry is that there should be a level playing field between companies which operate in the Irish market on a...

Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (28 Sep 2011)

Michael Noonan: The Central Bank organises it and the Revenue collects it from companies on their book of particular businesses and it is passed on by the company to the Revenue and it is passed in turn to the insurance compensation fund on the direction of the Central Bank.

Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (28 Sep 2011)

Michael Noonan: The way the levy operates, it operates on the books; the Deputy can take it that it will be passed on.

Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (28 Sep 2011)

Michael Noonan: Legally, they could absorb it.

Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (28 Sep 2011)

Michael Noonan: The Exchequer will have to put in money in the first instance. When the Bill is signed there will be three months notice. Money is required from now on. It is like a loan from the Exchequer. In terms of the general Government deficit, it is treated as a financial transaction. The State will put money in and will get an interest rate on it. The State will get its money back as the levy...

Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (28 Sep 2011)

Michael Noonan: We are putting in €460 million, a sum of €280 million this year and €180 million next year because we think many of the claims are front loaded. We will receive the appropriate commercial rate of interest on this investment and members can take it that will cover the cost of State borrowing. These things vary. On the CoCos we put into the banking system for recapitalisation, we will...

Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (28 Sep 2011)

Michael Noonan: It depends on the level of draw down. The levy will produce €65 million a year and there is €40 million in the fund at present. If we put in €280 million this year and €180 million next year, the Deputy can do the sum, but it will be a while before we get the money back.