The UK Government has said it is up to Stormont to decide on expanding compensation to include relatives of Troubles victims.
The victims campaign group Wave is sending a report to Secretary of State Hilary Benn on the long-delayed issue of spouses, partners and carers of victims being left in limbo. Westminster set up the Troubles Permanent Disablement Payment Scheme (TPDPS) in 2020 in the absence of the Assembly.
It is open to those who have been permanently physically or psychologically disabled as a result of an injury related to the Troubles.
However, many relatives of people killed and injured during the Troubles have been turned down. They include a man whose brother receives payments as a UK resident — while he is denied because he was born in Dublin.
Kenny Donaldson
Another man whose brother was killed in the Hyde Park bombing has also been denied, as well as the brother of an RUC man who was denied payments because he was not present at the death.
A Northern Ireland Office spokesperson said: “We recognise the terrible pain experienced by those who were bereaved through Troubles-related incidents and the impact their loss continues to have.
“The Troubles Permanent Disablement Payment Scheme was established by the UK Government in the absence of an Executive in 2020, and is specifically intended to acknowledge permanently injured victims.
“Support for victims is a devolved matter, and it is right that the Executive considers how best to acknowledge and support people who have lost loved ones during the Troubles.”
Kenny Donaldson from the victims group the South East Fermanagh Foundation, which includes membership in the Republic, Great Britain and Europe, hit back at the NIO.
“TPDPS as provided for in law was never going to be the answer for the overwhelming majority of the bereaved,” he said. “There was and is a need for a new scheme to be developed and we do not see this scheme being possible with our politics in NI, it will require to be administered for nationally.
“The pathway through it is for the establishment of a separate reparation scheme.”
Secretary of State Hilary Benn
Wave CEO Sandra Peake said: “We remain of the view that a scheme focused on degrees of disablement is not appropriate for many of those bereaved and, of course, the question of proximity to the incident means many, particularly women, are ruled as ineligible which causes hurt and compounds the trauma.
“This question of proximity in some cases has split families.
“We have a paper which is being updated and will be forwarded to the SoS who has indicated he would like to consider this issue. We will be making the case for the bereaved to be recognised as a matter of urgency.
“In terms of the bereaved, this scheme was never designed or intended to cover their experience.
“The title of the scheme refers to ‘disablement’. Claimants are assessed on degrees of disablement either physical or psychological or both plotted on a scale between 20% and 100%.
“Frankly it is invidious to apply that to the bereaved. There will be limited circumstances in which someone who was bereaved will be eligible to apply to the scheme; for example, if they were present at the death of their loved one.”
The Executive Office said: “We will ensure that these are included in the development of a new Victims Strategy for consideration by ministers.”
Stormont and the UK Government were at loggerheads for years over how the scheme aimed at disablement should be funded, with estimated costs over the next 20 to 30 years potentially topping £1.2bn.
But the stand-off came to an end when in a landmark ruling the Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan said there was a legal duty on the Executive Office regarding the funding.