Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 6: To ask the Minister for Finance the reason for the delay in the implementation of the Insurance Mediation Directive two; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14837/09]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The Insurance Mediation Directive was transposed into Irish law by way of the European Communities (Insurance Mediation) Regulations 2005 (S.I. No. 13 of 2005), so I assume that the Deputy is referring to the current proposal to amend those Regulations.

Although it had been hoped to finalise the amending Regulations before now, a number of significant policy issues arose which delayed finalisation. The most recent issue that arose related to the treatment of accountants who perform insurance mediation business on an incidental basis.

A Regulatory Impact Assessment performed by my Department, had recommended that the current Approved Professional Body regime for accountants performing insurance mediation business on an incidental basis should be retained. However, one of the brokers' associations did not agree with that assessment and, following a meeting with the association on 17 February last, I offered to ask the Financial Regulator to review the position in light of the comments I received. I expect to hear from the Financial Regulator on this matter in the near future.

As soon as that issue has been addressed, discussions will re-commence with the Financial Regulator and the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel with a view to producing a further draft of the Regulations. That draft will be circulated to all stakeholders before finalisation. I have asked my officials to treat this as a priority.