Compensation for victims of abuse to be under €650m

THE final cost of the scheme to compensate victims of abuse in religious institutions will be less than €650 million, according to the Department of Education.

But the taxpayer still faces paying more than €500 million of the final costs as the religious orders' contribution was controversially capped at €128 million.

The Department of Education's figure, based on the estimate from the Redress Board, is well below that of the annual report of the Comptroller and Auditor General, which put the potential cost at €828 million.