The Christian Brothers of Ireland have made an offer of an extra €34 million to the victims of clerical child abuse.

The congregation has sent an audit of its properties to the government and in its submission the brothers say the order is taking responsibility for the shame, shock and sorrow it feels for abuse in residential institutions.

It means the total the brothers are offering for reparation is €161 million.

Newstalk’s Reporter Chris Donoghue has the details.

“The total the brothers are offering for reparation is €161 million” he said.

“Now we already knew about €127 million of that – that’s the transfer of school lands to the government”.

“This new offer is €34 million; that breaks down to €4 million for counselling services and then €30 million for a new trust the Brothers want the government to form – and that’ll be for payments to the victims of child sexual abuse” he added.

In a statement, the Christian Brothers said it hoped the package would help support former residents of church-run institutions.

“The range of incremental measures outlined above follow the Christian Brothers’ acceptance, shame and sorrow at the findings of the Ryan Report,” it said.

“We understand and regret that nothing we say or do can turn back the clock for those affected by abuse”.

“Our fervent hope is that the initiatives now proposed will assist in the provision of support services to former residents of the institutions as well as the facilities, resources and scope to protect, cherish and educate present and future generations of children.”

The move comes a day before the publication of a separate investigation exposing child sex abuse by Catholic priests in the Dublin Archdiocese.

The long-running Commission of Inquiry into the Dublin Archdiocese has examined allegations against a sample 46 priests.

The 700-page report will be censored in parts so as not to prejudice ongoing or potential criminal cases.

The Christian Brothers bowed to intense pressure in the weeks after the Ryan Report’s publication last May and agreed to look for a possible new deal to make amends to its victims.

The report laid bare the physically and psychologically abusive regimes operated by religious orders in church and state-run institutions.