The Conference of Religious in Ireland says it is unaware that the Government finds some of the property it offered the State in the compensation deal for abuse victims to be "unacceptable".
As part of the scheme agreed last June, the Government hopes to conclude arrangements for the transfer of land owned by religious orders by the end of March. But a spokeswoman at the Department of Education and Science said yesterday that it had unable to accept some of the property it was offered. "There are some properties that have been accepted and that haven't," she said.
But Sister Helena O'Donoghue, a CORI member involved in discussions with the Government, said: "I'm not aware of any difficulty in these negotiations so far." Sister O'Donoghue said a significant number of properties had to be "verified" by the State but she did not know of any difficulty "at this point".
"We're working with the Government on this piece by piece. I'm not aware of any difficult or dispute," she said. The Department of Education and Science spokeswoman said it was not for her to comment about the assertions by CORI. She declined to say why the Department had found some land unacceptable. Neither would she specify the amount or value of the land.
It is known, however, that the agreement allows the State to refuse "unencumbered" land. This refers to property used by the church in its day-to-day activities - schools for example - and which the Government would be unable to sell on. The State has an option to seek alternative property. It can receive cash in lieu of land if no suitable property can be found. Last June 18th the religious orders agreed to transfer property worth about €77 million to the State, in addition to a cash payment of €41.14 million.
In a controversial clause, the overall contribution by the religious orders was capped at €128 million. Despite uncertainty about the extent of the potential liability to abuse victims, there was no limit on the State's contribution.
This has led to strong criticism by opposition politicians. However, the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, has denied the potential bill could be as high as €1 billion, with the State paying all but €128 million.
