Religious orders have yet to transfer 15 properties worth over €11 million to the government as part of the agreement to contribute to the estimated €1.3 billion it will cost to compensate victims of abuse in residential institutions.The orders agreed to hand over €128 million in cash and property to reduce the massive bill faced by taxpayers but some of the land has yet to be surrendered.
In a letter to the public accounts committee, Brigid McManus, secretary general in the Department of Education, said that her officials and the chief state solicitors office had a series of recent meetings with the religious orders where "particular difficulties had been identified concerning the transfer of individual properties" agreed back in June 2002.
"The primary purpose of these meetings was to impress upon them the need to expedite and finalise the transfer and to ensure that their legal representatives co-operate fully with the chief state solicitors office in making this possible," said McManus.
The controversial indemnity deal was signed off in June 2002 by the then Education Minister, Michael Woods just days before that Fianna Fáil-led government was dissolved, even though then finance minister, Charlie McCreevy let it be known it was a bad deal for the exchequer.
Woods was not included in the new cabinet.
Under the deal, the 20 religious orders involved agreed to hand over €41m in cash, €10m in counselling services for the victims of abuse and €77m in property to the state – a total of €128m.
At the time the government argued that the religious orders and the state should evenly share liability for the compensation bill which it estimated in 2002 would run to no more than €250-€300m based on a couple of hundred claims from abuse victims.
Woods thus claimed that the €128m contribution from the religious orders was a reasonable settlement.
But within a year the estimated cost leapt to €500m and last November the then Education Minister, Mary Hanafin admitted that the final compensation bill based on over 15,000 claims could run to €1.3 billion including legal costs of around €200m.
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