£114m plan to compensate abuse victims is proposed

A COMPENSATION scheme for survivors of historical abuse in children’s homes across Northern Ireland could cost around £114m.

It is understood a modelling exercise carried out by Stormont officials estimated a total of £97m being awarded in redress to survivors, with an added £17m to fund both the mechanism that will assess and deliver payments and a full-time commissioner to advocate for those who suffered.

The details emerged as draft legislation for the scheme was published — almost two years on from the publication of an inquiry report that recommended compensation payments ranging from £7,500 to £100,000.

The proposals put forward by the Historical Institutional Abuse inquiry (HIA) are mired in uncertainty due to the Stormont impasse.

The head of the NI Civil Service, David Sterling, has asked officials to draft legislation so everything will be ready to proceed once stability returns to Stormont’s rudderless public services.

The proposals were published yesterday and will now go out for public consultation.

It could still be years before the scheme is up and running. Mr Sterling said: “This has been a challenging and complex area of work, particularly in the absence of an Executive. However, we owe it to the victims and survivors to do all we can for them. I urge anyone who has an interest to contribute to this consultation on the draft legislation.”