Vol. 565 No. 2
29 Ms Burton asked the Minister for Education and Science the total estimated liability to the State at the latest date for which figures are available in respect of the deed of indemnity between him and a number of religious congregations, signed on 5 June 2002; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9716/03]
On 5 June 2002 an indemnity agreement between the State and CORI was signed which provided for 18 religious congregations making a contribution of €128 million to the Residential Institutions Redress Fund. In return for this contribution the previous Government agreed to grant an indemnity to the religious congregations that were parties to the agreement. This indemnity applies only to cases which are eligible to be dealt with under the terms of the Residential Institutions Redress Act 2002, but which are not resolved within this scheme, and in respect of which litigation is commenced within six years of the date of the agreement, 5 June 2002. In the event of a religious congregation deciding to run a case itself then the indemnity will not apply.
It is hoped that all, or certainly the vast majority of cases will be dealt with by the Residential Institutions Redress Board rather than through the courts. Therefore, it is expected that the indemnity will apply to relatively few cases. However, as there is no way to predict at this time how many claimants will opt to go through the courts rather than the redress board I am not in a position to estimate the likely cost of the indemnity to the State. To date, the indemnity has not been applied to in any case.
Question No. 30 answered with Question No. 12.
