A tax expert at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Dublin has denied claims in the Sunday Times last week that large Bermuda insurers are relocating to Dublin, moving thousands of jobs into the area.

Tax partner Pat Wall was quoted in the Sunday Times story as saying that there were a number of projects in the pipeline that were simply awaiting European Union approval.

But yesterday he said: "I don't know of any Bermudian companies planning to relocate their top holding companies to Ireland and I think it is unlikely that any would do so."

He did say, however, there was significant interest in using Ireland as an intermediate headquarters location.

"Our low tax rates and access to tax treaties complement rather than compete with the advantages of Bermuda," he said in response to questions from .

He went on to say that Dublin was becoming a more and more attractive place for Bermuda insurance companies to do business ? especially when it came to the repatriation of foreign earnings.

"As you say, many Bermudian insurers have found it advantageous to set up Irish operations and the impending changes to our holding company rules will add to these benefits," he said.

"One of the biggest tax issues facing Bermuda headquartered multi-nationals is repatriation of foreign earnings. Ireland's new holding company rules will make it a very attractive intermediate holding company location through which Bermudian groups can hold their global subsidiaries."

Last week reported that the Sunday Times story had run, but no one in Bermuda knew anything about any insurers, large or small, leaving Bermuda in favour of the Emerald Isle.

The article was headlined "Big Bermudian reinsurers are lured to IFSC" last Sunday and reporter Jane Suiter said that the Industrial Development Agency (IDA) Ireland "has convinced some of the world's biggest reinsurance companies to relocate their headquarters from Bermuda to Dublin's International Financial Services Centre in a move that will lead to the creation of several thousand jobs".

Last summer, before the general election, some insurance companies in Bermuda were making noises about Dublin after discontent about work permit policies reached fever pitch among the international business community.

In July IDA Ireland told that it had been in talks with "a number of Bermudian companies" but would not reveal their names or the number of businesses involved.

At the time the business community on the Island was buzzing with talk of what contingency plans companies have in place if the six-year term limits for staff were kept in place by Government ? and Dublin came up time and time again.

But since then the Government has softened its stance on work permits, the sable rattling stopped, and business has gone back to normal.

Calls and e-mails to the IDA Ireland in connection with the story were made last week and yesterday, but were not returned by Press time.