TAOISEACH BRIAN Cowen says the postponement of the Financial Regulator’s action to put Quinn Insurance into full administration has provided an opportunity for further discussions to take place.
“The concerns of all the stakeholders have to be dealt with as best we can in this situation,” Mr Cowen told reporters yesterday in Roscrea, Co Tipperary.
“We have policyholders themselves, we have taxpayers, we have people who are employed in the company and we have of course the regulatory requirements, and all of these issues have to be dealt with.
“If it’s the case it has been adjourned this morning for a further week, well then it provides an opportunity for further discussions to take place.
“But at the end of the day, as I say, there are processes in place and we have to respect those processes.”
Meanwhile, in Ballyconnell, Co Cavan, Minister for Agriculture Brendan Smith said he hoped a solution could be found which would safeguard the future employment of the 5,500 people working in the Quinn Group.
He said virtually everyone working in north Cavan and south Fermanagh was either employed directly or indirectly by the group.
The Quinn Group said it hoped the adjournment would provide time “to progress meaningful discussions towards an overall resolution”.
The Financial Regulator said it would continue to work closely with the provisional administrators to see that Quinn Insurance is “placed on a sound and stable longterm footing” and that it remained of the opinion that “serious breaches of regulatory solvency requirements need resolution in the interests of policyholders”.
