The indemnity agreement provided that the property contribution of the congregations was to be divided into two separate and distinct parts. One part comprised of property to be transferred from June 2002 onwards, property to be transferred and the other part comprised of transferred between May 1999 and the signing of the indemnity agreement in June 2002, property already transferred.
In respect of the properties to be transferred my Department has accepted, in principle, 34 of the properties offered. These properties have been valued by the congregations at €22.6 million. Eight properties were rejected on the basis that no benefit to the State could be identified by acquiring a title while three properties are still under consideration.
The congregations submitted a list of additional properties for the State to consider in June 2003. Some six properties from this list have been accepted in principle and the remaining six are under consideration by my Department. One of the congregations was not in a position to offer an alternative property and an equivalent cash sum was received instead. The amount being paid in cash by this congregation is €4 million, €2 million of which has already been received while the further €2 million will be paid by the end of this month.
Another property listed on this schedule was the subject of a compulsory purchase order. This matter was resolved last month and realised a sum of €987,500. The receipt of these cash payments reduces the total value of the property to be transferred from €36.54 million to €31.55 million.
With regard to property already transferred, officials from my Department have sought additional information from the congregations to ensure that each of these properties qualify under the criteria laid down in the indemnity agreement regarding valuation, title and restriction on transfer for a 25 year period. To date one of the properties on this list has been accepted in principle.
As negotiations are ongoing and because the issue is commercially sensitive, I do not intend to give details regarding the identity of the properties at this stage. However, when agreement has been concluded on the property aspect of the agreement a list of the properties concerned will be made available.
