Congregations Urged over Compensation Bill

RTE News
February 3, 2012

http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0203/abuse.html

€1.2bn bill for compensating victims of abuse

The religious congregations that ran residential institutions where children were abused are to be asked to contribute more towards the €1.2bn bill for compensating victims.

The Minister for Education is to write to the 18 religious congregations, which ran residential institutions where children were abused, asking them to contribute more towards the €1.2 billion bill for compensating victims.

In 2009, the Ryan Commission published its finding that children put into State care in religious-run residential institutions had suffered systemic abuse.

Then taoiseach Brian Cowen told the congregations concerned they should pay into a Trust Fund the State would establish, amounting to almost €600m - or half the bill incurred by taxpayers in redress to victims.

This was almost €500m more than the settlement the outgoing Bertie Ahern-led government made with the congregations.

However, the promised Trust Fund has yet to be set up.

Enda Kenny told representatives of 14 congregations in the Le Chéile Education Trust that restitution had to be paid to victims.

Asked if he was concerned that the orders were hundreds of millions of euro shy of paying a 50/50 share, Mr Kenny said there is a responsibility on everybody concerned to conclude a deal on the matter.

Ruairi Quinn is to write within a fortnight to the 18 congregations asking them to contribute more towards the compensation bill.

Last July, Mr Quinn said he did not want to bankrupt the orders but he wanted those, which could not make sufficient payments in cash or property, to lodge their schools' title deeds with the State.

He is to now write to invite them to agree a legal mechanism for transferring the deeds and with their offers of payments.