Employees anxious for regulator to lift ban on trading in North and UK

LOCAL REACTION: THE NEWS that the High Court has confirmed the appointment of an administrator to Quinn Insurance has cast a…

LOCAL REACTION:THE NEWS that the High Court has confirmed the appointment of an administrator to Quinn Insurance has cast a cloud of uncertainty over the economic future of the Border region that straddles counties Cavan and Fermanagh.

Some 2,800 staff work for the Quinn Group in the area with close on 600 working for the insurance division in Cavan town. A further 700 are employed selling insurance across the Border in Enniskillen.

With jobs now on the line at branches in Cavan, Navan, Blanchardstown, Enniskillen and Manchester, the reaction of Quinn employee group spokeswoman Mona Bermingham in Fermanagh yesterday was one of concern mixed with optimism.

“We’re obviously disappointed that an administrator was appointed in the first place. The onus now is on the regulator to lift the ban on Quinn Insurance trading in Northern Ireland and the UK.

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“The staff are worried as they are coming into work with nothing to do. As well as that, we have concerns that if external buyers bid for Quinn Insurance, they might not be committed to the jobs in the region in the same way that Seán Quinn is,” she said.

Eamon McDwyer, president of Cavan Chamber of Commerce, said if redundancies are implemented, the knock-on effects would be devastating for the region.

“I expected this to return to the courts next week. The Quinn payroll is worth about €3 million per month to Cavan town. Any jobs losses would have serious negative effects for pubs, restaurants, supermarkets, clothes stores.

“I reckon that if Quinn Insurance goes, close on 6,000 associated positions would be implicated, that’s two jobs for every one Quinn job.

“The loss of these jobs could increase the live unemployment register by as much as much as 2 per cent, which would in turn cost the exchequer at least €70 million per annum in basic unemployment assistance,” he said.

Fine Gael TD for Cavan/Monaghan Seymour Crawford said yesterday’s news calls into question the role and conduct of the Government over the way matters at Quinn Insurance have been handled. “I was hoping that the Government would use the window of opportunity between last Monday’s court hearing until next Sunday to find a solution.

“I believe the onus is still on the Ministers for Finance as well as Enterprise, Trade and Innovation to do everything in their power to ensure that every avenue is utilised. Without Quinn’s activity in Cavan town and west Cavan, there’s not much happening commercially. You’re looking at about 3,000-4,000 people depending on Quinn’s companies and significant job losses will no doubt occur if the worst-case scenario emerges,” he said.

Labour’s finance spokeswoman Joan Burton said last night that the decision of the Quinn Group to withdraw its opposition to the appointment of administrators is a welcome development.

She added that a prolonged legal battle between the Quinn Group and the Financial Regulator would not have been in the interests of either policyholders or employees.

“Now that the High Court has confirmed the appointment of the administrators, I hope that they will be able to proceed rapidly to sorting out the company’s affairs and taking all possible steps to protect policyholders and to preserve jobs,” she said.

Minister for Agriculture and Fianna Fáil TD for Cavan/Monaghan Brendan Smith was unavailable for comment. A brief statement on his behalf from his press office stressed that the Government is doing all it can to protect jobs in the Quinn Group.

“Local Minister Brendan Smith said that as well as meeting the regulatory requirements, it was vital that every effort is made to ensure the existing jobs at Quinn Insurance.

“Minister Smith along with his Oireachtas colleagues from the region have continually highlighted the need to protect employment,” the statement said.

On Wednesday, the Financial Regulator Matthew Elderfield told the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Economic Regulatory Affairs that he was not being “heavy-handed” in his action against Quinn Insurance and would change his approach if the firm came up with more money to protect policyholders.

A rally of Quinn employees that was scheduled to take place outside the Office of the Financial Regulator in Dublin today has been cancelled.

However, a delegation from the company will present a petition of 15,000 signatures in support of Quinn staff to the regulator’s office at noon today.

“We are inviting Mr Elderfield to receive this petition document and to meet with some employees to discuss the current status of the submitted NI/UK business plan and to establish his timeline to make a decision on his conclusions,” Ms Bermingham said.