The Education Minister has expressed his
disappointment at the level of contributions offered by Catholic
religious orders towards meeting the abuse redress bill.
The Government is
to seek the transfer of church owned properties, including schools, to
the State to help pay for the redress scheme for survivors of
residential child abuse.
The Minister for Education has expressed disappointment at the offers made by the Catholic religious orders.
The Government believes the 18 congregations should pay half of the total bill of €1.36bn.
Speaking on RTÉ's Six-One News, Ruairi Quinn said their offers fell several hundred million euro short of what is needed and he will be seeking €680m from the institutions.
Mr Quinn said the 18 Catholic religious congregations had made a 'fantastic contribution' to education in Ireland.
However, he said if the money could not be realised he would call on the congregations to hand over the legal deeds of some of their properties to the State.
The minister said this approach affords the congregations the opportunity to shoulder their share of the cost of responding to abuse of children in their care.
A number of congregations have responded to the statements by Minister Quinn this evening.
A spokesman for the Oblates Fathers, who ran the Daingean reformatory in Co Offaly, welcomed the fact the minister is moving to set up the long-promised statutory fund to support victims of residential abuse.
He said the Oblates had offered a €20m cash payment for that fund in October 2009 and that money is still available.
A spokesman for the Christian Brothers said it is considering its position carefully in the light of Mr Quinn's statement and other documentation received today from the Department of Education.
A representative for the Sisters of Mercy, the Daughters of Charity and the Sisters of our Lady of Charity said they do not wish to comment at this time as the process is ongoing.