The Christian Brothers donated €625,000 and playing fields worth €5.8 million to the trust that runs its former schools in the 12 months to the end of August, new accounts show.
The Edmund Rice Schools Trust, which is the trustee of 96 national and secondary schools in the Republic, is negotiating a long-term funding arrangement with the Brothers, according to the latest accounts from the trust.
While separate from the Congregation of Christian Brothers, the trust seeks to provide Catholic education “in the tradition of Edmund Rice”, founder of the congregation. The principal work of the trust, as stated in the accounts, is supporting the schools in the areas of ethos, governance, finance, and property, including supporting the appointment and training of principals, deputy principals, and boards of management.
The congregation, which now has a largely elderly membership, is being sued by multiple former students seeking damages for sexual abuse. It has also made substantial cash and property contributions to the redress scheme for people who suffered injury in institutions formerly run by the congregation. The trust is also being sued in some of the cases being taken by former students.
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[ Religious congregations have net assets running to hundreds of millions of euroOpens in new window ]
In their report accompanying the accounts, the trust’s directors say it is facing “risks and uncertainties” and is in negotiations with the Brothers.
“The principal risk is the long-term funding of the trust. We have secured medium-term funding from the Congregation of the Christian Brothers, are negotiating long-term funding with them and have identified and significantly progressed a number of other possible revenue streams, leveraging our assets and skills base which we believe significantly mitigate this risk,” they say.
“There are a number of other risks that could impact the company’s long-term performance and steps are being taken to understand and evaluate these in order to achieve our objective to ensure and foster the advancement of education and to further the aims and purposes of Catholic education in the Edmund Rice tradition,” say the directors.
[ Former Christian Brother (89) sentenced to further 10 years in prisonOpens in new window ]
A spokeswoman for the trust said there was no representative available to discuss the accounts.
Expenditure during the year covered by the accounts was slightly more than €1 million, with almost €800,000 of this on “schools support — governance and ethos”. The value of the trust’s property at year’s end was €138.4 million.
The playing fields associated with the schools are subject to an agreement whereby the trust must donate half of any proceeds to the State if they are sold. This arrangement forms part of the Christian Brothers’ dealings with the redress scheme.
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