Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 39: To ask the Minister for Finance the full extent of the State commitment to the Anglo Irish Bank-Liberty Mutual preferred bid for Quinn Insurance Limited in either direct cash terms, guarantees or underwriting; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10022/11]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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There is no change in the position I set out in my response to Deputy McLellan's Question No. 56 of Tuesday last, 3 May 2011. The position remains the same. The Joint Administrators announced last week the acquisition by Liberty Mutual Direct Insurance Company Limited (LMDI), which is a joint venture between Liberty Mutual and Anglo Irish Bank, of certain assets and liabilities of Quinn Insurance Limited. A 12-14 week transition process will commence immediately during which time LMDI will obtain all the necessary regulatory consents from parties including the Central Bank of Ireland. It should be noted that there is no State commitment which is specific to the LMDI preferred bid for the business of Quinn Insurance Limited in direct cash terms, guarantees or underwriting. The Insurance Compensation Fund is available to cover the deficit which is expected to arise in the run-off of the remaining parts of Quinn Insurance Limited not purchased by LMDI. In this regard, in my role as Minister for Finance, I may on the recommendation of the Central Bank advance to the compensation fund under Section 5 of the 1964 Insurance Act such sums as I think appropriate to enable payments out of the fund to be made expeditiously. Any sums of this nature are recoupable over time through the placement by the Central Bank of a levy on the insurance industry. I will consider such a request if it should arise in the same way that I would consider any request of this type no matter who the preferred bidder was.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 40: To ask the Minister for Finance the full extent of the guarantees he has received from Liberty Mutual regarding the future of all existing job holders in Quinn Insurance Limited; the assurances he has received regarding all existing locations on both sides of the Border; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10023/11]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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As there is no change in the position I set out in my response to Deputies Ó Caoláin and Feighan (Questions Nos. 52 and 177) on Tuesday last, 3 May 2011, the position remains the same. The Joint Administrators announced last week the acquisition by Liberty Mutual Direct Insurance Company Ltd (LMDI), a joint venture between Liberty Mutual (LM) and Anglo Irish Bank, of certain assets and liabilities of QIL. A 12-14 week transition process will commence immediately during which time LMDI will obtain all the necessary regulatory consents from parties including the Central Bank of Ireland.

As Minister for Finance I have had no direct dealings with Liberty in relation to this transaction including the issue of the future of all existing job-holders. However, I have been informed by the Joint Administrators that aside from the redundancies in Manchester all the 1570 in the QIL have been protected for at least two years. Many of these jobs are in the border areas both north and south and their protection is important for the local economies in these communities. The Joint Administrators have also advised that existing locations will be maintained aside from Navan. I understand that the Navan jobs will be redeployed to Cavan and Blanchardstown.

What is also reassuring is that the business has being purchased by a company which has an impressive track record in the insurance industry and which is also very conscious of the importance of ensuring competition in the Irish insurance market and appreciates its central role in providing employment and economic development in the border region and further afield.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 41: To ask the Minister for Finance the extent of his or any other Department or agency's consideration of the Quinn Group proposals, recently presented, for the future of Quinn Insurance Limited, in administration; if any consideration was given to the likely negative impact on trading of the Quinn Group manufacturing concerns following on from the removal of the Quinn family members and the senior managers from their employment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10024/11]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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As there is no change in the position I set out in my response to Deputy Ó Caoláin (Question No. 41) on Tuesday last, 3 May 2011, the position remains the same. The Joint Administrators announced last week the acquisition by Liberty Mutual Direct Insurance Company Ltd (LMDI), a joint venture between Liberty Mutual (LM) and Anglo Irish Bank, of certain assets and liabilities of Quinn Insurance Limited (in administration) (QIL). They see this as the best option for the policy holders of QIL. A twelve to fourteen week transition process will now commence, during which time LMDI will obtain all the necessary regulatory consents from parties, including the Central Bank.

At the outset, it should be noted that, under the sales process of QIL neither I as Minister for Finance, nor the Government, had any role in assessing the Quinn Group proposals recently presented for the future of QIL, as this was a matter solely for the Joint Administrators, who were appointed by the High Court. The Deputy will be aware that this sales process was conducted by Macquarie Bank on behalf of the administrators.

The Joint Administrators have indicated to my Department that the Quinn proposal was only received recently, several months after the closing date for submission of interest. They say that the proposal was highly conditional in nature as it depended on amongst other things on the State intervening to facilitate the transfer of €2.8bn of debt from Anglo to one of the viable banks and to require that bank to provide a further €500m loan to the Quinn Group, as well as agreement with the bondholders. As such they saw no likelihood for such a proposal being facilitated in the current economic climate, as the taking on of such loans by other banks was likely to compound their already difficult position and in addition would also be likely to contravene European State Aid rules. They were also of the view that reaching agreement with the bondholders in relation to the releasing of the guarantees over QIL assets was going to be extremely difficult if not close to impossible.

The decision in relation to the appointment of the Share Receiver by Anglo is very much a commercial one and I in my role as Minister for Finance had no input into this matter. While I understand the concern being raised on whether this decision will have a negative impact on the trading of the Quinn manufacturing group following the removal of the Quinn family members and the senior managers from their employment, I am informed that other scenarios might well have prompted court action to put the Group into receivership with the potential for immediate significant job losses. By comparison the appointment of a Share Receiver gives the Group grounds for considerable hope of a viable future. This viable future however depends to a large degree on the willingness by everybody, particularly those engaged in several recent negative events, to engage wholeheartedly with the new ownership arrangements, because if this does not materialise then over time this is likely to result negatively impact on the trading performance of the Group.

Overall, I share the view that the recent steps taken to sell the QIL business to LMDI and to appoint a share receiver to the wider group as being positive and will do a lot to protect jobs in the border region – the protection of which is important for the state and for the local economies in these communities. The proposal put forward by the Quinn Group was not in the economic or financial interests of the state.