Officials from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment are expected to visit Irish Life's head office next week to examine company files relating to alleged mis-selling of insurance policies.
A company spokesman has confirmed that it will give them full access to all documentation.
The Minister of State at the Department, Mr Noel Treacy, said yesterday he had sought clarifications directly from the company. He added that Irish Life was now re-examining an earlier review process and had agreed that "any compensatory measures warranted will be fully met".
A statement issued on behalf of the Minister said he "indicated" that where there was evidence of sharp practice or abuse of customer vulnerability it must be dealt with immediately by the company management. The statement was released after a meeting between Mr Treacy and Irish Life managing director, Mr David Went.
The Minister was responding to allegations in Magill magazine that Irish Life management were aware of and took part in sales practices - so called "churning" - through which customers lost money. The company has dismissed the claims as being "simply not true".
The Democratic Left spokesman on finance, Mr Pat Rabbitte, said there seemed to be adequate grounds for a Garda investigation.
An Irish Life spokesman insisted that many of the alleged cases referred to by Magill were "fictional and grossly exaggerated". Procedures were in place to stop mis-selling and the company was happy that these procedures worked.
But the Consumers' Association of Ireland (CAI) said it was "not confident" that Mr Treacy recognised the seriousness of the practice and its impact on consumers. The CAI urged consumers who had been victims of "churning" to contact its Dublin office. Its director, Mr Eddie Hobbs, said it would compile this information and forward it to the various authorities, including the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Ms Caroline Gill, chief executive of the association and the next Insurance Ombudsman, said she could not comment as she was not "up to speed" on the issues, having been out of the country.
But current Insurance Ombudsman, Ms Paulyn Marrinan Quinn, said that "churning" of insurance policies was not confined to any one institution and was found "across the board".
Ms Marrinan Quinn insisted that it would be inappropriate for her to comment on the "very serious allegations" being raised against one particular company. But she added that cases of mis-selling had arisen every year and had been documented by her in the Ombudsman's annual report.
According to the Irish Life spokesman, 21 people have been fired for gross misconduct. But he refused to give details of the reasons or how many customers had been compensated.
He said that Mr Went addressed a special meeting of senior management yesterday and insisted that the practices suggested in Magill were a "`moral and professional anathema".
Mr Went added, according to the spokesman, that there was no place in Irish Life for anyone who did not abide by the highest standards.
Mr John Tierney, of the MSF trade union, insisted that, contrary to the Magill article, there was no amnesty or deal between the company and the union not to fire those involved. He also insisted that Irish Life had gone to great lengths to protect customers and the dispute over the implementation of new selling practices last year indicated that.
"Irish Life has genuinely made efforts but `churning' is not something unique to Irish Life, it's right across the industry," he said.
The Irish Insurance Federation, the industry's trade body, has insisted that the matter is an internal one for Irish Life. "As an industry, we deplore the practice of mis-selling or `churning'," a spokeswoman said.
On the question of whether tighter regulation is required, Mr John White, IIF director in charge of life assurance said the industry does not oppose regulation but it would prefer to see "pragmatic rules with an eye kept on the costs involved".
