Quinn: 900 go for redundancy

There has been a significant response to the redundancy package on offer at the Quinn Direct, across eight sites, here in the South, at Enniskillen and England. It is too early to say if it has been oversubscribed and a percentage of applications will be rejected, to ensure there is balance across all departments. In all, 226 people are due to go at the Cavan office, with 121 to lose their jobs in the first phase. It is anticipated the applications from the Cavan site will surpass those required, but that does not mean they will all be accepted. The applications for redundancy had to be submitted by close of business yesterday (Tuesday). The administrators are looking for 900 redundancies over the next 15 months and it is believed that in excess of that number of applications have been submitted. While the applications for redundancy appear to have met the expectations of the administrators, the process of matching off the required numbers against the individual sites and the requirement to keep adequate team numbers in place, will complicate matters. One department in a particular site may be over subscribed and the HR team will have to work their way through the process quickly. The HR people will be informing all applicants during the remaining days of this week, whether their applications have been accepted ot rejected, and this process is expected to run into early next week. Meanwhile, the Financial Regulator is still studying a very comprehensive document he received from the administrator Michael McAteer and there are now ongoing deliberations between them. It is understood that the administrators are striving to have as favourable a decision as possible in relation to opening up futher business in the UK market. The administrator's report contains comprehensive information on what he considers to be profit making lines of business. The chairman of the Employees Representative Committee in Cavan and Derrylin, Derek Smith, says the ultimate number of redundancies will be contingent on the volumes of business reached by the company across all sites in the time ahead. "We need to ensourage the public to place their trust and their premium with us. Custom and ongoing loyalty will make a difference to how many people will remain in jobs," said Mr. Smith. The Anglo Celt understands that the 900 redundancy figure is essentially the worst case scenario and it is felt that those figures would not have to be revisited. Mr. Smith says the more business that is sustained and increased, the less people that will have to leave. Meanwhile, it is now reported that Anglo Irish Bank is in talks with Sampo, the Finnish insurance group, about a takeover of Quinn Insurance. Anglo is keen to secure an investor that does not have an existing Irish operation to minimise job losses at Quinn Insurance, which has its head office in Cavan. Sampo owns 'If P&C Insurance', the biggest property and casualty insurer in the Nordic region, and Mandatum Life, a life insurer. The administrators of Quinn Insurance received more than 40 expressions of interest about its health and general business arm. Liberty Mutual, a US insurer, confirmed last week that it is among those to have expressed an interest. Liberty Mutual, which is run by Armagh-born chairman and chief executive Ted Kelly out of Boston, made profits of $315 million (€255 million) from revenues of $8.2 billion in the first quarter of this year. An information memorandum will be sent to prospective purchasers this week and a data room opened at the insurer shortly afterwards. The administrators plan to appoint a global merchant bank over the coming weeks to manage a sale process and assess interest among international companies. Meanwhile, Government sources said FÁS officials are preparing plans to use €1m from the labour market activation fund ring-fenced by Batt O'Keeffe, the enterprise and employment minister, for redundant Quinn workers. Enterprise Ireland officials are working with their counterparts from Invest Northern Ireland on a submission to the EU's Interreg fund for cross-border projects. An application for aid will be made when the next round of funding begins in September.