The Central Bank's deputy Governor Ed Sibley has said he is satisfied the Irish financial system is resilient enough to withstand a hard Brexit.
"Based on the work we have undertaken in the Central Bank, the work of the Oireachtas, the actions taken by the European Commission and the work in individual firms, I am satisfied that the Irish financial system is, overall, resilient enough to withstand a hard Brexit," Mr Sibley said.
But he also cautioned that not all regulated firms are adequately prepared.
He said there is no excuse for this, despite the fact that considerable uncertainty around Brexit remains.
Mr Sibley said that companies owe all their stakeholders, including and most importantly their customers, a duty of care to ensure that they are prepared for whatever Brexit scenario will happen.
Ed Sibley made his comments at the launch of the CEO Survey Report from PwC and Insurance Ireland today.
"As the insurance industry is arguably the most exposed financial services sector to the risks, challenges and opportunities of innovation and climate change, the industry must take action now to meet these challenges successfully," Mr Sibley said.
"Too many of your firms are not getting the fundamentals right, with ineffective IT risk management practices, weaknesses in IT security, a lack of effective oversight of IT, and weaknesses in the management of outsourcing," the central banker said.
He also noted that climate change presents a major challenge for insurance firms, adding that he expects "the insurance industry to play a positive and proactive role in shaping the wider response to climate change risks."
