Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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163. To ask the Minister for Finance if his attention and the attention of the Central Bank has been drawn to the liquidation of a company (details supplied) that was the underwriter on structural warranties in a housing estate in County Dublin; if the Insurance Compensation Fund is available to assist in funding alternative underwriters; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46535/18]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Central Bank of Ireland has advised me that it was notified by the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority on 7 March 2018 that it had ordered Alpha Insurance A/S to cease writing new business including renewal of existing contracts and business with immediate effect. It was further notified on 9 May 2018 that the liquidators of the insurance company Alpha Insurance A/S had filed a petition for bankruptcy.

The Central Bank has indicated that as Alpha Insurance A/S is a Danish based insurance firm, it is subject to prudential supervision by the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority, and therefore it had no role in this decision. It has also informed me that Alpha Insurance A/S was selling non-life insurance policies in Ireland through the broker network on a freedom of services basis and that it also operated in Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Norway, the United Kingdom and Spain.

The Insurance Compensation Fund (ICF) is primarily designed to facilitate payments to claimants in relation to risks in the State where an Irish authorised non-life insurer or a non-life insurer authorised in another EU member state goes into liquidation. As I understand it, there are no claims outstanding and thus the ICF has no role to play in this case.

In conclusion, as the structural warranty insurance was initially purchased by the property developer, the affected residents may wish to get in contact with the developer in the first instance to see if alternative cover can be arranged.