Back in his halcyon days, long before he lost control of his sprawling business empire and was declared bankrupt, the industrialist Sean Quinn used to retire to the living room of his lakeside mansion in Co Cavan every Sunday to review Quinn Insurance’s provisioning and compensation reports. After Sunday lunch, Quinn would pore over what was being provisioned for each claim, routinely instructing his staff to cram down the number and negotiate harder. The approach was singular and dysfunctional, but for a period it worked as Quinn’s relentless focus on cost and provisioning pushed its business to massive profits. Until…