The 18 religious congregations in discussions with the Government to make further financial contributions to redress for victims of institutional abuse have strongly denied newspaper reports that they are not delivering on their commitments.
Well-placed sources told The Irish Catholic that allegations made by the Irish Mail on Sunday newspaper on November 1 maintain that the congregations were in ''defiance'' of the Taoiseach were simply untrue.
The sources state that the congregations met with the Government as recently as Thursday, October 29, and some of the congregations are believed to have already agreed a figure that they could contribute, while others had written to Minister for Education Batt O'Keefe's office.
It is understood that the letter required that contributions be made by the ''end of the month'', which effectively gave the congregations four working days to complete their business. This was the first time the congregations had heard of a deadline for receipt of contributions.
One source said that this timeline was ''completely unreasonable'', as many leaders of missionary congregations were away travelling, and some were abroad on missions in India and Africa.
Some of the congregations are questioning the Government's haste, given the fact that the assessment panel appointed by the Taoiseach to review the congregations' resources was still working into the second and perhaps third week of October.
Deadline
This meant that the congregations had a deadline of less than a working week to come up with offers without having seen the completed report of the assessment panel.
Prominent sources have confirmed to The Irish Catholic that the congregations believe that they should have a written validation of their transparency in their dealings with the assessment panel.
Congregations are also concerned that their willingness to co-operate, and the fact that they have made some offers and that others are actively getting their figures together, is being deliberately overlooked.
They feel pressure is being brought to bear on the congregations through misleading newspaper articles, which place all the blame for delay with the congregations, who have heard no details of the plan to set up a trust to deal with the funds they are to contribute.
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