The company also recruited serving gardai to investigate claims and settle them as quickly as possible on the company's behalf, according to a confidential company memo.

Members of this garda panel approached plaintiff solicitors offering them a bonus on their fees to recommend reduced settlements to their clients in cases against Quinn Direct.

The Sunday Tribune has seen the document signed by general manager Kevin Lunney, dated October 2001, which outlined the company's plans to keep costs down.

"We have recruited a panel of senior gardai (mainly retired but some still serving) on a fee basis to investigate and settle damage and personal injury claims on our behalf arising from road accidents, " the memo said.

"The results to date from the garda investigations and settlement work have been very impressive, with claims costs incurred dramatically falling."

The memo states specifically: "Our garda panel have helped us achieve these costs in two main ways.

"* The garda panel's ability to access, source and relay detailed information to us on road traffic accidents involving our policyholders through the garda computer system and records.

* Their negotiation, influencing and persuasive skills in settling claims on the doorstep of third partiesf" The memo was circulated in 2001 when Quinn Direct filed pre-tax losses of 2.6m.

The latest available accounts show that the company filed pre-tax profits of 231.7m in 2005.

The memo continues: "Allied to this we have designed and are implementing an incentivisation scheme for plaintiff solicitors to induce the quick settlement of claimsf "four garda panel approach plaintiff solicitors offering the plaintiff solicitors a bonus/extra payment on their fees to recommend reduced settlements to their clients in cases against Quinn Direct. This strategy is proving particularly useful in the disposal of whiplash/soft tissue personal injury actions against the company."

In response to the revelations, Ken Murphy, the Director General of the Law Society, said: "There is a growing trend of the representatives of insurance companies approaching accident victims either in hospital or recently discharged and offering sums of money in settlement before the claimant has even consulted a solicitor."

The gardai declined to comment to the Sunday Tribune about members of the force working for the insurance company. Quinn Direct told the Sunday Tribune that their 'Panel of Regional Claims Managers' "does not, nor has it ever, included serving gardai."

"The company has never had a strategy of offering incentives to plaintiff solicitors to speed up their claims procedure or recommend a reduced settlement, " it added.

A spokesman for Quinn Direct said: "I have spoken to Kevin Lunney and he has accessed his memos for 2001.

He says he has no such memo in his files." However, the Sunday Tribune is satisfied as to the authenticity of the memo published in today's paper.

These issues were raised in the Dail last week in a series of written questions from Finian McGrath, Joe Higgins and Caoimhghin O Caolain to the Minister for Justice Michael McDowell.

ConFIdential internal memo outlines how:

A panel of senior gardai relay detailed background information to QuinnDirect

Garda panel offer plaintiff solicitors a bonus to recommend early settlements in cases against firm