Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)

I am anxious to proceed with this matter as quickly as possible in the interests of equity. In this specific proposal we are not talking about getting extra cash. It is about equity. The religious teaching orders have already given a great deal and many of the valuations they had on their properties have collapsed, as has happened to the many people who are in negative equity. They have not contributed to the desired target of 50:50, which is still the policy of this Government.

I have told the religious teaching orders who own property that they could make good the balance to get as close to 50:50 as possible, and the figures are in the public domain, if they were to transfer the ownership of the schools that they currently possess and operate or which are operated by trusts on their behalf, with the clear assurance that the patronage arrangements of those schools would continue until such time as the schools in question decided or chose to change the patron. However, the Irish taxpayer would be clearly given the legal ownership of those properties, so they could not be sold in future generations. They would remain within the education system.

I initiated this idea when I was a Member of the Opposition. It was an attempt on my part to understand the constraints and pressures being experienced by these aging religious teaching congregations. Every Member of the House is aware of the cost of health care for the elderly, and in many, if not all, cases these congregations do not have a new generation coming through to support them, as would be the case in secular or civilian life. The offer I suggested at the time, which is now part of Government policy, was to enter negotiations and to point out to the trusts or religious congregations that they are short of the 50% target that was set by the previous Oireachtas. One way of meeting it is to hand over the keys and ownership of the properties, on the clear understanding and assurance that they would continue to operate those schools and that the patronage arrangements currently in place would remain in place for such time as they wished. It is up to them if they wish to change them.

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