Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 October 2015
57. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Finance the position regarding the Central Bank of Ireland and a professional licence for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35546/15]
View answerI am informed by the Central Bank that it is precluded from commenting on matters arising in respect of individual firms.
I am also informed that, in general, the application process for persons seeking authorisation as an insurance, investment or mortgage intermediary includes a robust assessment of the applicant and any persons proposed to hold a pre-approved control function (PCF) role within the applicant, in line with the Central Bank's Fitness and Probity regime. For sole traders, this fitness and probity assessment also includes the completion of a Garda Vetting process.
This process whereby the Central Bank exercises its statutory "gatekeeper" role provides that an authorisation will not be granted to a firm or its PCF role holders until the Bank is satisfied that all relevant issues raised with the applicant have been dealt with satisfactorily.
I am informed that the Central Bank aims to process 90% of applications within 3 months of receipt of a complete application. This timeline is dependent on the quality of information received from the applicant and the turnaround times of responses to any subsequent queries raised in respect of the application. The time taken by an applicant to address matters raised by the Central Bank during the application process is excluded from this service standard.
