The Taoiseach has "clarified" a remark he made yesterday after he was criticised for saying he hoped "thousands" of cases would not emerge in the controversial compensation scheme for abuse victims.
After Opposition figures said Mr Ahern was attempting to place limits on the number of people seeking compensation, a Government spokeswoman said he was merely seeking to correct "unrealistic figures" cited by some critics of the compensation deal agreed with the Conference of Religious in Ireland (CORI).
Mr Ahern said earlier yesterday: "I hope we don't run into thousands of cases," and added: "I quite frankly don't believe that there were thousands of people that have suffered these abuses over the years."
This prompted the Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny, to say he was questioning the integrity of victims, despite apologising to them on behalf of the State.
Labour leader Mr Pat Rabbitte said Mr Ahern had effectively acknowledged the deal was bad for the Exchequer "and his solution now is to crudely limit the number of claims".
Mr Ahern denied this. "At the time the agreement with CORI was approved, the estimate was that there would be 3,000-5,0000 cases.
"At present we can't know exactly how many people will lodge claims but we still anticipate that they will be in the region of 3,000 to 5,000. To date less than 3,000 people have lodged claims but this figure could increase."
A Government spokeswoman said the implication in Mr Ahern's earlier comment was that he did not expect the number of victims would rise above 5,000. "The point that he was making earlier is one that he previously made in the Dáil and he wanted to clarify this.
"Some people have been talking about unrealistic figures." The spokeswoman said Mr Ahern had heard a total cost figure of €1 billion "bandied about".
She said: "The point the Taoiseach was making was that it was preposterous to suggest that every single person who attended an instititution was abused."
Disquiet about Mr Ahern's comments followed new data which has emerged, indicating that the €128 million limit on the contribution by the religious orders was just above the minimum recommended by officials in the Department of Finance.
Files released under the Freedom of Information Act to RTÉ and another newspaper showed that officials advised the State to seek a contribution of £150 million (€190.5 million) from CORI but not to settle with the orders for less than £100 million (€127 million). Thus the €128 million promised in the final deal was only marginally above that figure.
The Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, was revealed in correspondence to have said: "The package offered is quite inadequate and effectively leaves the State to bear virtually the full costs of the redress scheme."
Earlier this month, the Government refused to release to The Irish Times more than 140 documents, including valuations of church property, some of which will be transferred to the State under the scheme.
It is understood that the Dáil Committee of Public Accounts has been advised by the Comptroller and Auditor General, Mr John Purcell, that it would be unable to initiate an immediate examination of the scheme. This was because the committee's remit is confined to retrospective expenditure.
It is expected that the Dáil Finance and Public Service Committee has been asked to examine the scheme by the Labour TD Ms Joan Burton. It is thought, however, that the Committee on Education and Science also wants to examine it.