THE VHI is believed to have paid just under Pounds 4 million to an order of nuns in Mullingar in compensation for financial loss they claimed was caused when the company de-listed the hospital they run.
A confidentiality clause was part of the High Court settlement agreed last week. According to sources, however, the amount was about half what the hospital had been seeking from the Voluntary Health Insurance board.
The company also paid the costs of the case, which was settled on the third day.
The VHI had offered Pounds 2 million during negotiations between the two sides in the weeks prior to the hearing. But this was rejected by the hospital, which was reported to be in a "dire" financial position.
Three years ago in the Supreme Court the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady, who own the St Francis Medical Centre in Mullingar, won a long- running legal battle against the VHI. The court decided the case should go back to the High Court to assess damages.
A spokesman for the VHI said yesterday the amount paid could not be disclosed but that the company had been making financial provision since the original court case. He said the company had no comment at all to make on the case."
A spokeswoman for Sister Pauline, the administrator of the hospital, said the order had no comment.
In their action the nuns had claimed more than Pounds 8 million in compensation as a result of the board's decision to refuse cover to anyone who attended the hospital in 1991. They instituted legal proceedings in the same year.
The hospital was allowed partial participation in the VHI's scheme in May 1993, and was given full participation in September 1994.
Meanwhile, the VHI is awaiting approval for a proposed 9 per cent increase in premiums from the Minister for Health, Mr Cowen. If approved, it would bring increases over the past four years to 33 per cent.
Mr Cowen has 30 days to consider the proposal from the VHI chairman, Mr Derry Hussey. It is believed he has not yet made a decision on the matter.