The Government approved the agreement in principle and following further negotiations on the detail of the indemnity agreement, approved the terms of the indemnity agreement in June 2002. It has been argued that the Government let the congregations off lightly by agreeing to a contribution of €128 million. However, it must be remembered that any contribution by the congregations is of a completely voluntary nature. The Government could not impose a contribution on them. Only time will tell whether the contribution represents 25%, 40%, 50% or other percentage of the total cost of the redress scheme.