Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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71. To ask the Minister for Finance the reason for the delay in bringing another court application for funds to pay claimants involved with the collapse of a company (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17766/19]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Setanta Insurance ("Setanta") was placed into liquidation by the Malta Financial Services Authority on 30 April 2014.  As it was a Maltese incorporated company, the liquidation is being carried out under Maltese law.

The Deputy will be aware that under the Insurance Act 1964, as amended, monies may only be paid out of the Insurance Compensation Fund (ICF), with the approval of the High Court.  As Minister for Finance I have no role in this process.

The liquidator of Setanta has informed me that since the last application was submitted in November 2018, a further 126 personal injury claims have now been settled and these will be included in the next application to the Fund together with a number of  legal costs payments and third party property damage claims.  The latest information from the liquidator estimates that the total value of the next tranche will be approximately €8.3 million.

In relation to when the next payments will be made, the Deputy will note that in accordance with the relevant legislation, there are certain steps to be completed in preparing any application to the High Court for payment from the ICF. These steps include the assessment and verification of each individual claim within the application by the State Claims Agency.  The Agency have informed me that while it was hoped to arrange a court date during April, the court date provided by the High Court is the 13 May.  This will allow for the payments to issue towards the end of May or early June.

Any individual (or their solicitor) who has queries about their payment should contact the liquidator via phone at +353 (0)818 255 255 or via email at iesetanta@deloitte.ie.