Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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72. To ask the Minister for Finance the reason there is a delay in excess of three months in processing applications from the Central Bank of Ireland to be an insurance broker in respect of a person (details supplied). [45626/14]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The registration of insurance brokers is a matter solely for the Central Bank of Ireland under the relevant insurance intermediaries legislation and the Central Bank Acts and is not a matter in which I have a role. 

I am advised by the Central Bank that it does not comment on individual applications for authorisation.  I am further advised by the Central Bank as follows:  

Applications for authorisation as an insurance intermediary take an average of three months to process, this timeline being dependent on the quality of information received from the applicant and the turnaround times of responses to any of its subsequent queries in respect of the application.  The application process for insurance intermediaries includes a robust assessment of the applicant and any persons proposed to hold a pre-approved control function (PCF) role within the applicant firm in line with the Central Bank's fitness and probity regime.  The application process is where the Central Bank exercises its statutory "gatekeeper" role and it does not authorise a firm or its PCF role holders until it is satisfied that all relevant issues raised with the applicant have been dealt with satisfactorily.