MINISTER FOR Education Ruairí Quinn has insisted he is not “trying to bankrupt” religious institutions by seeking a bigger contribution from them for the €1.3 billion redress bill for clerical abuse victims.
The Government is asking religious congregations named in the Ryan report to transfer ownership of schools to the State to help make up its shortfall. Properties rented to the State may be sought in lieu of cash or other payments.
“I’m not in the business, and nor is the Government, of trying to bankrupt any religious congregation that has an ageing community who don’t have children of their own to pay for nursing home care and provide all the other care . . .
“They gave an awful lot of care to all of us growing up, and I’m one of them. What I’m looking at, in fairness, is how can they come up to the mark,” he told RTÉ Radio’s This Week programme.
To date, religious congregations have offered almost €350 million, or roughly a quarter of the redress bill faced by the taxpayer to compensate victims of abuse and cover legal costs.
This offer fell “well short, by several hundred million” of what the orders should bear towards the cost of institutional residential child abuse, Mr Quinn said. He hoped the issue could be resolved through fresh talks.
“I’m entering into these discussions on the basis of trust and open and honest dealings. I have no particular additional agenda, despite what some people might say.
“I’m asking them for a 50-50 contribution. The taxpayer has already paid out the bulk of it. Their share should be about €680 million and they are half shy of that. They have made offers of cash and property, but they need to do far more.”
On the issue of transferring schools to State ownership, Mr Quinn said these schools would continue to be Catholic schools under the present terms and conditions of their patronage. They would only be changed, he added, if their patrons decided to do so.
