Religious orders owe state €15m in properties

By Seán Mccárthaigh
Times (UK)
December 19, 2016

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/religious-orders-owe-state-15m-in-properties-mwc5j5qsz

The properties are redress for victims of child abuse in former industrial schools run by religious orders

Religious orders have yet to transfer properties worth about €15 million to the state under an agreement reached 14 years ago as part of the child abuse redress scheme.

The state is still waiting to take possession of 11 sites out of a total of 64 properties identified under the 2002 agreement, according to new figures from the Department of Education.

The updated data show that 50 properties, worth €48.4 million, have been transferred. It equates to just over 76 per cent of the total monetary value of properties due to be given to the state as redress for the victims of child abuse in former industrial schools run by religious orders.

Seán Ó Foghlú, the department’s secretary-general, said six sites had been transferred since September last year.