It emerged this week that Marsh Ireland has told regulators of a €6.7 million hole in its accounts. The company - one of the largest insurance brokerages in the State - said it only discovered the problems, which date back several years, when preparing its 2003 accounts. It found that a number of balances had been substantially overstated.

The company said the problem did not involve or impact any client funds. It added that new controls had been put in place since the problem came to light. The company employs 450 staff in Ireland and, in 2002, made profits of around €12 million on a premium income of €300 million.