Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

May I alert Members to a matter arising from a meeting yesterday of the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform? I refer to the Setanta Insurance Company, which is licensed in Malta and has left 75,000 policyholders in the lurch, the cost of which may yet again be imposed upon the Irish consumer and taxpayer. The Leader and I have discussed that matter in this Chamber. The company was licensed in Malta and started to get into difficulties in September 2013. The difficulties were notified to the Department of Finance in January and its licence was handed back to the Maltese authorities in April. How on earth do the Irish taxpayers and consumers yet again end up paying the bills for badly regulated organisations in the financial services sector?

We discussed this issue in rushed form in September 2011. I am aware that the Leader dislikes rush legislation and thanks to him we have not done much of that since then. We were debating the provision of €750 million to rescue the Quinn Group. Apparently one result of that legislation is that we are now liable for the debts of foreign companies, such as the Maltese insurance company, trading in this country. The briefing note provided by the Central Bank yesterday states that, following advice from the Attorney General that charges could not be levied on insurance companies in respect of risks outside the State, we brought in legislation that had the exact opposite effect and we now have to bear the risks irrespective of whether the insurers are based in Ireland or another member state. If we apply this in banking and other financial services, it is estimated that the debts run up by foreign banks in this country, such as KBC Bank, Bank of Scotland and Rabobank, would bring the €64 billion figure up to €111 billion. We cannot afford badly regulated companies from other countries to be sending the bills here. This is an extremely dangerous development and we should seek to amend the 2007 legislation if it has the effect of imposing the burden of foreign financial institutions on Irish taxpayers.

Turning to a more serious matter, I welcome the intervention suggested by President Obama, the Taoiseach, the Lord Mayor and Mr. Kieran Mulvey, who tried to abolish this House, and the Mexican ambassador in regard to concerts. Yesterday the Leader referred to people who need friends in high places. All the world is a stage and all the men and women are merely players. They have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts. I note that the Taoiseach is standing by his man and is willing to go through a ring of fire to ensure these concerts proceed. He has put his sweet lips a little closer to the phone.