S.I. No. 128/1995 - Insurance (Fees) Order, 1995.

S.I. No. 128 of 1995.

INSURANCE (FEES) ORDER, 1995.

I, PAT RABBITTE, Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise and Employment, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 7 of the Insurance Act, 1989 (No. 3 of 1989), as adapted by the Industry and Commerce (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order, 1993 ( S.I. No. 19 of 1993 ), and with the consent of the Minister for Finance, hereby order as follows:

1. This Order may be cited as the Insurance (Fees) Order, 1995.

2. (1) This Order shall come into operation on the 23rd day of May, 1995.

(2) The Insurance (Fees) Order, 1990 ( S.I. No. 149 of 1990 ), is hereby revoked.

3. (1) In this Order—

"financial year" means, in relation to an undertaking, the period in respect of which the accounts of the undertaking are made up, whether that period is a year or not;

"gross premium income" has the meaning assigned to it by Article 4 (3) of this Order;

"the Minister" means the Minister for Enterprise and Employment;

"non-life insurance" has the meaning assigned to it by the European Communities (Non-life Insurance) Framework Regulations, 1994 ( S.I. No. 359 of 1994 );

"undertaking" has the meaning assigned to it by the Insurance Act, 1989 (No. 3 of 1989).

(2) A word or expression that is used in this Order (provision for the construction of which is not made by this Order) and which is also used in the European Communities (Life Assurance) Framework Regulations, 1994 ( S.I. No. 360 of 1994 ), shall have the same meaning in this Order as it has in those Regulations with the modification that the word or expression shall be construed as applying to non-life insurance as it applies to life assurance.

4. (1) Each of the following undertakings, namely, an Irish head office insurance undertaking, an Irish deposit undertaking, a community deposit undertaking and an external branch undertaking shall pay annually to the Minister, not later than the 30th day of June in each year, the fee specified in the second column of the Schedule to this Order opposite the mention of the gross premium income of the undertaking for the financial year ending in the previous year in the first column of that Schedule.

(2) An undertaking with its head office in another Member State and carrying on insurance business in the State by way of a branch establishment or by way of services, shall pay annually to the Minister not later than the 30th day of June in each year, the fee specified in the third column of the Schedule to this Order opposite the mention of the gross premium income of the undertaking for the financial year ending in the previous year in the first column of that Schedule.

(3) In this Article and the Schedule to this Order references to the gross premium income of an undertaking for the financial year ending in the previous year shall be construed—

( a ) in the case of an undertaking the head office of which is in the State, as references to the global gross premium income of the undertaking in that financial year, and

( b ) in the case of an undertaking (other than an undertaking to which subparagraph (a) of this paragraph applies), as references to the gross premium income of the undertaking arising in the State in that financial year.

(4) In paragraph (3) of this Article "gross premium income" in relation to an undertaking means the figure for the gross premium income of the undertaking (including premiums receivable by the undertaking under reinsurance contracts accepted by the undertaking) which, after the deduction of discounts, refunds and rebates of premium but before deduction of premiums for reinsurance ceded and commission payable by the undertaking, is required to be stated in the annual accounts or statistical information submitted by the undertaking to the Minister under the European Communities (Life Assurance) Framework Regulations, 1994 ( S.I. No. 360 of 1994 ), the European Communities (Non-Life Insurance) Framework Regulations, 1994 ( S.I. No. 359 of 1994 ), or the European Communities (Non-Life Insurance Accounts) Regulations, 1977 ( S.I. No. 401 of 1977 ).

5. A fee shall not be payable by an undertaking under Article 4 of this Order in a year where the undertaking at any time in the 12 months up to the 30th day of June in that year or in the financial year ending in the previous year—

( a ) is being wound up and cannot lawfully effect any contracts of insurance,

or

( b ) is subject to a direction of the Minister under section 18 (1) (i) of the Insurance Act, 1989 , to refrain from taking on new business,

or

( c ) is subject to a direction from the supervisory authority of its home Member State to refrain from taking on new business.

Article 4.

SCHEDULE

Dated this 23rd day of May, 1995.

PAT RABBITTE,

Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise and Employment.

The Minister for Finance hereby consents to the making of this Order.

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Minister for Finance, this 23rd

day of May, 1995.

PHILIP FURLONG,

Assistant Secretary, Department ofFinance,

a person authorised by the Minister for Finance to authenticate the Official Seal of the Minister.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

This Order sets out the scale of fees to be paid annually to the Minister for Enterprise and Employment by authorised insurance undertakings, as provided for under section 7 (1) of the Insurance Act, 1989 .

Separate scales of fees apply to Head Offices/Third Country Branches and to European Community Branches/ Services Insurers.

The level of fee for an insurance undertaking is fixed according to the amount of its gross premium income in respect of its global business in the case of a head office undertaking, and the amount of its gross premium income arising in the State in the case of a branch or agency, for the financial year ending in the previous year. The Order specifies that no fee is payable where an insurance undertaking is being wound up, or the undertaking is precluded from effecting contracts of insurance at or before the date when the accounts or statistical returns are deposited with the Minister for Enterprise and Employment.

The amount of gross premium income on which the fees are to be based is the amount required to be included:—

( a ) in respect of a life head office insurance undertaking's global business (business written in Ireland in the case of a Third Country life branch or agency) in Column 1 Line 9 of Form 2 in Schedule I to the European Communities (Life Assurance) Framework Regulations, 1994 [ S.I. No. 360 of 1994 ];

( b ) in respect of a non-life head office insurance undertaking's global business (business written in Ireland in the case of a Third Country non-life branch or agency) in Column 1 (Gross), Line 2 of Form 1 plus the amount in Column 9 (Gross), Line 2 of Form 3 of the European Communities (Non-Life Insurance Accounts) Regulations, 1977 [ S.I. No. 401 of 1977 ];

( c ) in respect of a life and non-life European Communities Branch or Services insurer transacting business in the State, the amount included in respect of business written in Ireland as disclosed in the appropriate statistical returns required to be furnished annually to the Minister in accordance with Articles 57 and 58 of the European Communities (Life Assurance) Framework Regulations, 1994 [ S.I. No. 360 of 1994 ] and in accordance with Articles 40 and 41 of the European Communities (Non-Life Insurance] Framework Regulations, 1994 [ S.I. No. 359 of 1994 ].