David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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184. To ask the Minister for Finance the status of recent developments regarding insurance claimants of a company (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24126/17]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Setanta Insurance was placed into liquidation by the Malta Financial Services Authority in April 2014 and this liquidation is being carried out under Maltese law.  Progress in the liquidation has been delayed due to court proceedings in the case of Law Society of Ireland v the Motor Insurers' Bureau of Ireland (MIBI). The focus of the court action is to determine whether it is the Insurance Compensation Fund (ICF) or the MIBI which is responsible for the payment of third party claims. 

The Supreme Court heard the case in October 2016.  The judgment in that case is due to be delivered on 25 May 2017. 

I hope to be in a position to provide a more detailed update after the legal proceedings are concluded.  However, it should be noted that there will not be an overnight resolution of the situation as claims will have to be verified and processed before payments can be made by the party deemed liable. This will be required whether by MIBI if the decision is upheld, or the Insurance Compensation Fund (ICF) if it is overturned. 

It should be noted that first party claims, which are not affected by the court action, are being processed by the Office of the Accountant of the Courts of Justice through the ICF.