Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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288. To ask the Minister for Finance the reason the Investor Compensation Company Limited levy applies to public loss assessors in the insurance sector, given that the fund does not benefit their customers, they are not investment firms, and they do not handle client moneys; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37375/15]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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By way of background, the Investor Compensation Company Limited (ICCL) was set up in compliance with section 10 of the Investor Compensation Act 1998 ('the Act').  It has a defined set of objectives, the most important of which is to establish and maintain funds from which clients can be paid compensation in the event that an investment firm fails to return money or investments which are due to them.

An insurance intermediary is an investment firm for the purpose of the Act.  The Act (Section 2) provides that an "investment firm" includes 'an insurance intermediary or a person who was formerly an insurance intermediary' and that an 'authorised investment firm' includes, inter alia, 'an insurance intermediary'.

The European Communities (Insurance Mediation) Regulations 2005 define an insurance intermediary as:

"a person who, for remuneration, undertakes or purports to undertake insurance mediation;"

It further defines "insurance mediation" as:

"any activity involved in proposing or undertaking preparatory work for entering into insurance contracts, or of assisting in the administration and performance of insurance contracts that have been entered into (including dealing with claims under insurance contracts)".

The work of loss assessors is deemed to fall within the definition above as it is concerned with "dealing with claims under insurance contracts".

As Loss Assessors fall within the definition of an insurance intermediary they are deemed an investment firm for the purposes of the Investor Compensation Act 1998 as per Section 2 of the Act and are therefore liable for the ICCL levy, as is the case for all authorised investment firms.