A High Court judge in Belfast has authorised the Presbyterian Church to donate £1m sterling to a rescue package for savers in its collapsed mutual society.
Mr Justice Deeny held there was a moral obligation on the church to honour its pledge to contribute to the bailout.
'Only members of the Presbyterian Church could be members of the Presbyterian Mutual Society. It would be paradoxical if the general body of taxpayers funded all of the assistance without any contribution from the church,' he said.
His ruling followed an application for permission to put up to £1m in the pot to help thousands who lost access to savings when the society went into administration in 2008.
The church had to apply to the court because its funds can only be used for charitable purposes. Legal approval is needed because the access fund it wants to donate to does not have that status.
A rescue plan totalling more than £200m has been put together, including £25m in contributions from the UK government and Stormont executive. A treasury loan of £175m also forms part of the package for PMS savers.
In April last year, the Presbyterian Church in Ireland passed a resolution at a Special General Assembly to contribute £1m.
The court heard this money would come from an available discretionary fund of £1.25m, which represented the only asset available for such use. Other assets of around £52m are tied up in trusts and property which, under charity law, would be restricted, the judge heard.
Lawyers for the church brought the application on the basis of a moral obligation and on expediency.
