Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 March 2019
106. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance when persons (details supplied) will receive the remaining 35% of their entitlements following the collapse of a company; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11701/19]
View answerSetanta 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 the Insurance (Amendment) Act 2018 (Act 21 of 2018) was enacted in July 2018. The Act inter alia provides for revised arrangements for the on-going administration of the Insurance Compensation Fund ("ICF"), including for the relevant applications to the President of the High Court. The most recent tranche of payments to Setanta claimants took place in late November 2018.
To date, 670 personal injury claimants have been compensated in full. The liquidator of Setanta has informed me that since the last application was submitted, a further 125 personal injury claimants have now been agreed and these will be included in the next submission to the Fund bringing the total number of personal injury claimants who have agreed settlements to 795. There are a further 411 personal injury claimants who have yet to settle their claims. The latest information from the liquidator estimates that the total value of the next tranche will be approximately €7 million.
Currently, no date has yet been fixed for the presentation of the next tranche of payments to the High Court. However, my officials have confirmed with the State Claims Agency that the preparatory work is ongoing with a view to arranging a court date later this month which will allow payments to issue by early April.
While I cannot comment on individual cases, the State Claims Agency has also advised that, to their knowledge, any claimant who was due the residual/balancing 35% of their Setanta settlement was included in the last application to the ICF and the relevant cheques issued late last year. Any person expecting such a payment but who hasn’t received it should make contact with their own solicitor to establish why they haven’t received the payment. If their solicitor similarly hasn’t received the payment, he/she should contact the solicitor firm that represented Setanta on the claim.
Finally, it should be noted that the process of settling claims is still ongoing and is subject in some cases to court procedures. The liquidator of Setanta estimates that the process of settling the vast majority of these outstanding claims should be completed by end-2019.
