Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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212. To ask the Minister for Finance the reason that a person (details supplied) is waiting over the advised 90 days on authorisation to commence trading as an insurance intermediary; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56583/22]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the Central Bank of Ireland is the competent authority responsible for the authorisation of financial service providers and as such the Minister for Finance does not have a role in carrying out this function.

The Central Bank of Ireland is bound by a statutory duty of confidentiality, therefore it cannot comment on its engagement with individual firms.

By way of information, the authorisation or “gatekeeper” process is an important part of how the Central Bank regulates financial service providers and works to protect consumers and investors. Through this process, the Central Bank ensures that only firms who demonstrate that they meet the standards required by European and domestic legislation, and the Central Bank’s rules and regulations, can provide financial products and services to consumers and investors.

Each applicant seeking registration under the European Union (Insurance Distribution) Regulations 2018 (IDR) must satisfy the Central Bank that it can meet the relevant authorisation standards (regardless of their size) and key persons proposed to hold Pre-Approval Controlled Function (PCF) roles within the applicant must satisfy the Central Bank that they meet the Fitness and Probity Standards. In fulfilling its statutory role in this regard, the Central Bank adopts a robust, structured and risk-based process that seeks to ensure that only those applicants that demonstrate compliance with the relevant authorisation and fitness and probity standards are registered. The Central Bank assures me that it seeks to process each application as expeditiously as possible while meeting its obligation to operate a rigorous and effective gatekeeper function.

The Central Bank’s published service standards, which are referred to in the query, set out the Central Bank’s commitments in respect of the time taken to complete the assessment of an application for authorisation. In respect of this ‘assessment phase’, the Central Bank aims to complete the assessment and notify an applicant of the outcome within 90 business days of the commencement of the assessment phase in respect of 90% of applications. However, it should be noted that in the event of further and/or subsequent information being sought, this 90 day 'clock' is paused until such information is received by the Central Bank from the applicant. Assessment phases differ by application; while the majority are completed within 90 business days, some may take longer. The Central Bank’s performance against its service standards is publicly reported on a half-yearly basis, where it is also noted that there are a number of exceptions to the service standards, including the 90 business day target. The exceptions are also highlighted on the retail intermediary’s authorisation section of the Central Bank's website:

www.centralbank.ie/regulation/industry-market-sectors/brokers-retail-intermediaries/authorisation-process