RETURNS ON Church of Ireland investments fell by 25 per cent over the past year, resulting in an operating deficit of €751,000, according to a report to be presented to the General Synod this morning.
The Representative Church Body (RCB) report will also point out that cost cutting will have to continue throughout this year and beyond. To date this has involved a staff pay-freeze as well as reductions in operating costs.
Church primate Archbishop Alan Harper told the General Synod yesterday that total assets managed by the RCB at the end of 2009 were valued at almost €448 million. Of that €97 million belonged to the Clergy Pension Fund; €205 million to the parishes and dioceses; which left the RCB itself owning about €146 million.
“The total income from all of these funds in 2009 was around €20.9 million,” he said, with €4.8 million of that belonging to the Clergy Pension Fund; €9.9 million to parishes and dioceses; and €6.166 million to the RCB itself.
After the expenses of running Church House, the RCB Library, committee travel and other costs, €4.8 million was left as “the totality of the central funds which the Church of Ireland has available for such things as the cost of the episcopacy, theological training, and budgetary requests from the Standing Committee for the work of boards and committees.”
In 2009 there would have been a deficit of €1.3 million but for unexpected allocations of €338,000 and subsidies from other funds of €275,000. “As it is the deficit in 2009 remains at around €750,000 which was met out of the allocations reserve – a “rainy-day fund built up over the past few years”, he said.
