The Taoiseach was accused of "dodging pertinent questions" about the agreement between the State and religious orders on compensation for abuse victims in residential institutions, writes Marie O'Halloran
Mr Pat Rabbitte, the Labour leader, demanded to know what was the involvement of the Attorney General and the Department of Finance in the negotiation of the deal and of the indemnity for religious orders.
It was "generally agreed", the Labour deputy said, that the agreement "is a bad one for the taxpayers and a good one for the religious congregations".
He asked if the then Attorney General and now Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, was "going up poles about a project that he condemned in extravagant language - the Bertie Bowl - because of the exposure of taxpayers to its costs, while a project for which he had direct responsibility and that would cost the taxpayer much more was apparently being signed off, with or without his knowledge?"
Mr Rabbitte also demanded to know "where were the apostles of fiscal rectitude, Ministers Harney and McCreevy", when the deal was done. "How did they allow the State to be so exposed?" he asked, suggesting that the agreement should have been based on percentage liability, such as 50:50, instead of a cap of about €40 million on the religious orders.
Mr Ahern said, however, that everything "was done properly" and the State was "not operating on the basis that the congregations should pay everything and that we would bankrupt them". The contribution of the Congregation of Religious in Ireland "had to be meaningful but should not be so high as to destabilise the congregations and the schools to which they still make a huge contribution.
"We should remember what happened. The State, through the decades, put pressure on these congregations to accept children into their care. As a result, the State has an obligation when things go wrong to try and assist them."
The agreement with the congregations was €41 million in cash, €77 million in property transfers and €10 million in counselling. The legal indemnity given to the congregations covered only those cases that could be heard by the redress board but where the victim "has opted instead for the court hearing. Cases must be commenced within six years of the date of the indemnity, June 2002."
Mr Ahern added that the Department of Education "is of the view that the overwhelming majority of cases will go to the redress board".
The Taoiseach said the legal indemnity discussions involved the Departments of Education and Finance and the Attorney General's office. When they broke down, the then Minister for Education, Dr Michael Woods, "continued to try to get the discussions back on track".