I have decided to use this legislative opportunity to broaden the scope of the ICF to cover all insured risks in the State. This will protect policyholders in this country who take out cover with companies authorised in other EU member states and which are not covered by the existing scheme. Another benefit of this approach is that it means that all policies in relation to risks in the State, aside from excluded risks, can be levied for the ICF. This is important because it means that the revenue base for the levy is secured and, therefore, even if existing subsidiaries convert to branches, they will still be required to pay it on their policies and it prevents branches and freedom of service business from having a competitive advantage over domestically authorised firms.