The Quinn Insurance organisation with its vital link to the Quinn Group must not be disposed by any sudden decision which does not have full political oversight.

This was stated by Independent MEP Marian Harkin when she outlined her concerns about the uncertainty surrounding Anglo Irish Bank and the proposals for the takeover of Quinn Insurance. 

She said:  “There are serious question marks about the process of Quinn Insurance being placed in administration in the first place and this issue must be urgently addressed.   The future of thousands of jobs in the Cavan/Monaghan and surrounding border areas is at stake in this issue.

“The lack of transparency in the Quinn Insurance administration process and the uncertainty it has created is reflected in a longterm employee going forward for election on the platform of retaining jobs in the region.  There is an urgent need now for clarification of who will make the vital decision about the company and when and by whom it will be made.

“As a public representative I, in common with representatives of all the political parties at local level, have expressed our support for the formula proposed by the Quinn Family shareholders.  This Plan provides the best opportunity for taxpayers to be repaid the  €2.8 billion owed to the state owned Anglo Irish Bank.  It will mean the Quinn jobs being retained in Ireland, and 1,000 extra jobs in the Quinn Family proposal being created through the ability of the business to compete and expand.

“The alternative proposition,  which is cloaked in mystery and absence of information, provides no confidence that what is being considered in relation to Quinn Insurance holds any prospect for an acceptable outcome for the state, for taxpayers, and for the thousands of dependents on the future progress of the Quinn enterprises.

“There must be absolute transparency on how the administrators of Quinn Insurance are conducting their business.  The Irish taxpayer and those whose jobs are dependent on the future successful development of the Quinn enterprises, have a right to know just what is being proposed by the administrators of Quinn Insurance.

There has been enough evidence of how the experts and the regulators together with deficient political oversight have ruined Ireland’s economy.  We do not need to repeat this in relation to Quinn Insurance and consequently the entire Quinn operations.  Accordingly it must be the Minister for Finance who makes the decision on any recommendation in relation to Quinn Insurance.