Insurance (Amendment) Act 2011
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Contributions to Fund. |
7.— The Principal Act is amended by substituting the following for section 6: | |
“6.— (1) Where, in the opinion of the Bank, the state of the Fund is such that financial support should be provided for it, the Bank shall determine an appropriate contribution to be paid to the Fund by each insurer or insurer authorised in another Member State, calculated as a percentage determined by the Bank, not exceeding 2 per cent, of the aggregate of the gross premiums paid to that insurer or insurer authorised in another Member State in respect of policies issued in respect of risks in the State. | ||
(2) Where the Bank is of the opinion referred to in subsection (1), it shall publish a notice on a website maintained by it, and deliver a notice to each insurer and each insurer authorised in another Member State, specifying the following particulars: | ||
(a) the date on and after which each insurer and insurer authorised in another Member State shall be obliged to pay the appropriate contribution, which date shall be not earlier than 30 days after the date of the publication of the notice; | ||
(b) the percentage referred to in subsection (1); | ||
(c) the person to whom the appropriate contribution is to be paid (in this section referred to as the ‘collector’). | ||
(3) In respect of each quarter in every year during which there is a percentage determined, published on a website maintained by the Bank and in force under subsection (2) or (8), an insurer or, as the case may be, an insurer authorised in another Member State shall, whether or not that insurer or insurer authorised in another Member State has received a notice under one or both of those subsections, and not later than the last day on which that insurer or insurer authorised in another Member State is required to deliver the statement under section 125(2) of the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999 in respect of that quarter, or such other date as the Minister may fix by order if he or she is of the opinion that it would be more efficient or effective for the administration of the Fund to do so— | ||
(a) deliver to the collector a statement in writing showing the aggregate of the gross premiums paid in that quarter by the holders of policies that the insurer or insurer authorised in another Member State issued in respect of risks in the State, and | ||
(b) pay to the collector the appropriate contribution calculated in accordance with this section. | ||
(4) Without delay after receiving an appropriate contribution under subsection (3)(b), the collector shall— | ||
(a) transmit that contribution to the Fund after deducting the costs associated with performing functions under this section, and | ||
(b) inform the Bank of— | ||
(i) the name of the insurer or insurer authorised in another Member State that made the contribution, and | ||
(ii) the amount of that contribution. | ||
(5) The collector shall, if it appears to the collector that an insurer or insurer authorised in another Member State is liable to pay an appropriate contribution in accordance with subsection (3) but has not done so, inform the Bank of the name and address of that insurer or insurer authorised in another Member State. | ||
(6) If an appropriate contribution is not paid in accordance with this section the Bank may— | ||
(a) recover it as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction from the insurer or insurer authorised in another Member State by which it is payable, and | ||
(b) on giving notice of not less than 21 days to the insurer or insurer authorised in another Member State by which that contribution is payable— | ||
(i) in the case of an insurer, suspend its authorisation until the Bank is satisfied that all appropriate contributions payable in accordance with this section by the insurer concerned have been paid, or | ||
(ii) in the case of an insurer authorised in another Member State, take any action that the Bank considers appropriate, after consultation with the authority in that Member State charged by the law of that Member State with the duty of supervising the activities of insurance undertakings in that Member State, including any action that would prevent the insurer authorised in another Member State from issuing any policies of insurance in relation to risks in the State until the Bank is satisfied that all appropriate contributions payable in accordance with this section by the insurer authorised in another Member State concerned have been paid. | ||
(7) After an appropriate contribution is recovered under subsection (6)(a), the Bank shall transmit the appropriate contribution to the Fund, after paying to the collector the amount of the costs associated with performing functions under this section. | ||
(8) The Bank shall, not earlier than 60 days before each anniversary of the publication of the relevant effective date and not later than each such anniversary, review the state of the Fund to determine whether it is such that financial support should continue to be provided for the Fund, and— | ||
(a) if it is of the opinion that financial support need not continue to be provided for the Fund, the Bank shall publish on a website maintained by it, and deliver to each insurer and each insurer authorised in another Member State, a notice of the date on which the obligation for each insurer and insurer authorised in another Member State to pay the appropriate contribution shall cease, or | ||
(b) if it is of the opinion that financial support should continue to be provided for the Fund, the Bank— | ||
(i) if it is of the opinion that the financial support required could be provided if a percentage lower than the percentage determined by the Bank, and in force, of the aggregate of the gross premiums paid to that insurer or insurer authorised in another Member State, in respect of policies issued in respect of risks in the State, were used to calculate the appropriate contribution, shall determine a new percentage and publish on a website maintained by it, and deliver to each insurer and each insurer authorised in another Member State, a notice of the new percentage and the date on and after which the new percentage is to be used in the calculation of the appropriate contribution, | ||
(ii) if it is of the opinion that the financial support required could be provided only if a percentage higher than the percentage determined by the Bank, and in force, of the aggregate of the gross premiums paid to that insurer or insurer authorised in another Member State, in respect of policies issued in respect of risks in the State, were used to calculate the appropriate contribution, shall determine a new percentage and publish on a website maintained by it, and deliver to each insurer and each insurer authorised in another Member State, a notice of the new percentage and the date on and after which the new percentage is to be used in the calculation of the appropriate contribution, or | ||
(iii) if it is of the opinion that the financial support required could continue to be provided if the percentage determined by the Bank, and in force, of the aggregate of the gross premiums paid to that insurer or insurer authorised in another Member State, in respect of policies issued in respect of risks in the State, continued to be used to calculate the appropriate contribution, need do nothing further in relation to the determination of such a percentage until the next such anniversary. | ||
(9) An insurer or insurer authorised in another Member State that does not make an appropriate contribution in accordance with subsection (3) is guilty of an offence and— | ||
(a) is liable on summary conviction to a class A fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both, or | ||
(b) is liable on conviction on indictment to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or to both. | ||
(10) Where an offence under this section is committed by a body corporate and it is proved that the offence was committed with the consent or connivance, or was attributable to any wilful neglect, of a person who, when the offence was committed, was a director, manager, secretary or other officer of the body corporate, or a person purporting to act in that capacity, that person, as well as the body corporate, is guilty of an offence and may be proceeded against and punished as if he or she were guilty of the first-mentioned offence. | ||
(11) Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, subsection (10) applies in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with his or her functions of management as if he or she were a director or manager of the body corporate. | ||
(12) Summary proceedings for an offence under this section may be brought and prosecuted by or on behalf of the Bank. | ||
(13) (a) The Minister shall by order, appoint as collector for the purposes of this section the Bank, the Revenue Commissioners or any other person who, in the opinion of the Minister, has the requisite knowledge, expertise and experience to perform the functions of collector under this section. | ||
(b) If the Bank is appointed by order under paragraph (a) to be the collector, subsections (4) and (5) shall be read without reference to the collector informing the Bank. | ||
(c) If the Revenue Commissioners are appointed by order under paragraph (a) to be the collector, the Revenue Commissioners may require that the statement under subsection (3) be delivered, and the payment of the appropriate contribution under that subsection be made, in an electronic format that the Revenue Commissioners may specify from time to time. | ||
(14) In this section— | ||
‘effective date’ means the date mentioned in a notice published under— | ||
(a) subsection (2), | ||
(b) paragraph (a) of subsection (8), or | ||
(c) subparagraph (i) or (ii) of paragraph (b) of subsection (8); | ||
‘premium’ in relation to a policy issued in respect of risks in the State, includes a premium paid if the policy is issued both in respect of risks in the State and risks not in the State; | ||
‘quarter’ means a period of not more than 3 months— | ||
(a) beginning on the effective date, or at the end of the previous quarter, whichever is the later, and | ||
(b) ending on 31 March, 30 June, 30 September or 31 December.”. |