Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 8 May 2019
132. Deputy Tony McLoughlin asked the Minister for Finance the amount of revenue raised from the levy on insurance; the way in which this funding was used in 2017 and 2018; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19125/19]
View answerThe purpose of the Insurance Compensation Fund (ICF) is to provide a means to compensate policyholders in a situation where an insurer goes into liquidation or is put in administration. The ICF is funded by advances from the Minister for Finance which are refunded by levies which are placed on all non-life insurers except for health policies. Currently there is a 2% levy on gross written premiums in place in order to recoup advances of €1,133 m made in relation to the Quinn administration. It should be noted that in addition to the outstanding loan in respect of the administration of Quinn Insurance, there are currently three insurers in liquidation, for which compensation has and will be paid by the ICF: Setanta Insurance Ltd., Enterprise Insurance Company plc. and Gable Insurance AG.
The amount of the ICF levy collected in 2018 was €69,108,008.30 and €76,173,504 for 2017 (as per the Accounts of the ICF) with a total of €465,215,041 collected since the levy was reintroduced in 2012. €376.6 million has been recouped to the Exchequer to date.
While the only pure "levy" charged on insurance premiums is the 2% charged to fund the ICF, the Deputy may also be enquiring about the 1% stamp duty charged on life insurance premiums and the 3% stamp duty charged on certain non-life premiums.
The stamp duty on insurance premiums is sometimes erroneously perceived as a "levy", and I am advised by Revenue that information on Stamp Duty yields, which includes the Life Assurance and Non-Life Insurance Levy components for 2017 and 2018, can be found on the statistics page of the Revenue website at www.revenue.ie/en/corporate/documents/statistics/receipts/stamp-duty-receipts.pdf.
The revenue received under both stamp duties goes towards general expenditure, and is not hypothecated.
