Dempsey denies religious orders contributing only €28.7m to fund

EDUCATION Minister Noel Dempsey last night denied that the religious orders were contributing less than 30 million in hard cash to the compensation fund for abuse victims.

Yet official documentation from his own department on the residential institutions redress fund shows that the figures are correct.

The fund could cost anything up to 2 billion, yet the religious orders total contribution is just 128m, including 41m in cash. However, 12.7m of this cash has been allocated for counselling services leaving just 28.7m to be put into the kitty for the compensation payments.

The vast majority of the religious orders’ compensation comes in the form of transfers of property worth almost 77m. Already 40m worth of property has been transferred and a further 10m has been spent on counselling services. Yesterday, the religious orders said they may make a greater contribution if the Laffoy Commission says they bear a greater degree of responsibility for the fund.

The minister argued that 34m was already lodged by the religious orders and a further 7m was due.

“I don’t know where this nonsense is coming from or the motivation,” Mr Dempsey said. Copies of the agreement obtained by RTÉ News though confirms that under 30m will be available for the actual compensation payments from the religious orders.

Labour Party finance spokesperson Joan Burton received information from the Department of Finance showing the same figures. Under the deal, the State indemnified congregations against claims for compensation from institutional abuse victims in return for a contribution of 128m.

At this stage, it is not yet possible to say how much the board will pay out, but the Department of Finance originally said it could be around 400m, while other more recent reports suggest it could amount to 2bn.

The redress board has not made any payments yet, but it is likely the board will begin hearing applications within the next two to three months.

The deal struck with the orders by former education minister Michael Woods is being probed by two Oireachtas committees.

At the weekend, Labour leader Pat Rabbitte and Green Party leader Trevor Sargent called on the Taoiseach to reveal the full details of the agreement which takes the form of a legal covenant signed by Mr Woods, just days before he left office last June.