The department confirmed last week that there was still a 2.5m balance outstanding from the deal signed in June 2002 in which the 18 religious congregations agreed to hand over cash and property worth 128m towards the cost of abuse claims flooding to the Redress Board.

But a spokesperson for the department said that it was "expecting a cheque within the next few weeks". The 2.5m shortfall is understood to concern the disputed valuation of a property owned by the church which could not be identified because of commercial sensitivities. Under the deal, the church can hand over cash in lieu of property, particularly where there is a dispute over valuation.

The majority of the 64 identified properties have already been, or are in the final stages of being handed over by the church to the state for its own use, the spokesperson added.

The deal, completed by the then minister for education, Michael Woods, was widely criticised at the time as being far too soft on the church, particularly as it included an indemnity against any future claims against the church.

At the time, Woods estimated that the compensation bill would be around 300m but last week the final bill was estimated at 1,350m, which left the religious orders paying less than 10% of the final compensation bill.