FALLING PROPERTY values explain part of the difference between figures in the accounts of the Edmund Rice Trust and earlier estimates by the Christian Brothers of the value of property it is transferring to the trust.
The trust’s chief executive, Gerry Bennett, said another factor was that less than half (45 out of 97) of the schools being transferred had been transferred by the end of the period covered by the trust’s accounts to August 2009.
The accounts show property valued at €94 million had been transferred by the end of the period. Earlier estimates that property valued at €400 million was to be transferred were based on a valuation conducted by the brothers in 2008, and were for all of the properties.
Mr Bennett said the brothers’ valuations included the value of the school buildings being transferred, while the trust’s valuations did not. The trust’s valuations include the sites the schools are built on, and immediate adjoining land.
Associated playing fields are not being transferred. Values for school properties transferred, published in The Irish Timesyesterday, do not include the value of the school buildings.