Troubles Pension: Calls for Stormont Ministers and NI Secretary of State to end stand-off over funding
The court of appeal ruled Stormont was under a legal duty to fund the compensation scheme
Last updated 23rd Feb 2021
The Northern Ireland Secretary of State is due to meet with Stormont Ministers today (Tuesday) over the ongoing row over who should pay for the Troubles Pension scheme.
Yesterday (Monday) Finance Minister, Conor Murphy, said it is estimated the compensation scheme could cost up to £1.2 billion pounds.
Deputy First Minister, Michelle O'Neill, who will take part, told the Assembly yesterday (Monday) that politicians had been trying to secure the meeting with Brandon Lewis for five months.
Earlier this month, the Court of Appeal in Belfast ruled that Stormont was under a legal duty to fund the payment scheme for those who suffered physical and psychological injuries during the Troubles.
It made no finding on the source of that funding and gave the Executive and the Northern Ireland Office four weeks to find an agreed solution.
Ms O'Neill said the Executive was maintaining its position that the UK Government should fund the new scheme.
She said: “It remains our firm view that the scheme should be funded by the Westminster Government as an addition to the block grant.
“Without additional funding for the scheme through the block grant the executive will be faced with very significant funding pressures.''
She said it would continue to fund required set-up costs while the negotiations with the UK Government continued.
Ms O’Neill said the remit and costs of the scheme had widened significantly from those agreed by parties in 2014.
Ministers received a costing prediction from the Government's Actuary Department based on numbers provided by the Executive Office.
The Deputy First Minister said those ranged from £600 million to £1.2 billion pounds, with a central estimate of £848 million.
She added: “That shows the level of challenge which this Executive would have to face in terms of trying to fund the scheme, which is why we need the British Government to fund something which they themselves brought forward policy for and took policy decisions on,''
“The executive is absolutely committed to paying and delivering upon the scheme - how the scheme is resourced however is a political question and it's a question that needs that urgent focus from the British Government and from Brandon Lewis in particular.
“It also requires an immediate political solution because, as I've said earlier, victims have had to wait for far too long.''
The Deputy First Minister highlighted that the UK Government's own policy was to fund initiatives it legislated for.
However, the Government has insisted that the Executive needs to pay for the scheme, stating that it was only legislated for at Westminster because the power sharing institutions were collapsed at the time.
The scheme should have been open for applications at the end of May last year.
It was first delayed when Sinn Fein refused to designate a Stormont department to administer it, after objecting to Government eligibility criteria that excluded former paramilitaries convicted of causing serious harm.
Ms O'Neill eventually agreed to nominate a department last August following a highly critical court judgment that found she had been acting unlawfully.
However, the separate stand-off involving the Government and the wider Stormont Executive over funding remains unresolved.
Ulster Human Rights Watch has called on the Northern Ireland Executive and the Secretary of State to end the stand-off over who pays for the long-delayed Victims’ Pension Scheme.
The organisations Advocacy Manager, Axel Schmidt, said: “This scheme should have been in operation since May last year and it is a shocking state of affairs that victims of terrorism are still waiting for what they are entitled to.
“To innocent victims, many of whom have life-changing conditions inflicted by terrorists, it matters little whether the pension is paid by Belfast or London. Many are in financial need and this scheme represents a badly needed lifeline.
“Our appeal to the Executive Ministers and the Secretary of State, Brandon Lewis MP as they sit down today is to leave no stone unturned in their search for a satisfactory outcome.
“Victims of terrorism are not political pawns and shouldn’t be treated like this. They deserve decency and acknowledgement that they have suffered enough.
“It’s up to our politicians to sort out who has responsibility for funding what is, after all, a national scheme.
“Victims have seen false dawns before, and we must now hope that the posturing is over, and agreement finally reached to ensure the scheme is effectively implemented.”