Pensions for victims and survivors of the Troubles are long overdue, but who will pick up the bill?
As the scheme covers the whole of the UK, it is only right that central Government should underwrite the cost, argues Queen’s University academic Luke Moffett
❝ The time period is between January 1, 1966 and April 12, 2010, but the panel can overlook this
❝ Seriously injured victims cannot wait, some of the initial campaigners have already passed away
Some 46,000 individuals were physically injured during the Troubles, with thousands more psychologically traumatised by its consequences.
One of Julian Smith’s last pieces of official business as Secretary of State was to sign-off on the regulations on a pension payment scheme for seriously injured victims of the Troubles.
This payment scheme has been advocated by the Wave Trauma Centre and the Commission for Victims and Survivors since 2013 as a means to provide financial security for many victims who were left disabled and inadequately compensated in the past.
The passage of time compounded their harm; many of those injured have found their disability worsen in older age as their health deteriorates and their financial security becomes more precarious, especially in the past few years of austerity.
Despite the victim pension regulation coming into legal effect, Secretary of State Smith’s departure and local political parties highlighting that the Executive budget cannot afford to pay for all victims places the delivery of the victim payments in jeopardy.
The Executive Office has stated that the scheme, in its first year, will cost roughly
between £25m and £60m, with the first three years amounting to £109m.
This will take a substantial chunk of the financial commitment made in the recent agreement around increased funding for legacy of £250m, which is also supposed to cover the establishment of the legacy institutions under the Stormont House Agreement.
It is worth outlining the nature of the scheme to provide some insight into how it will operate in practice and why it will cost this much.
The scheme’s official title, under the Victims’ Payments Regulations 2020, is the ‘Troubles Permanent Disablement Payment Scheme’ and will officially operate from May 29, 2020, when the first applications will begin to be processed.
A board will be established before the end of May and will be responsible for the running and management of the payments scheme.
The board will be presided over by a judge and will be guided by principles on the need to be responsive to and to prioritise victims’ needs, to be transparent and communicate effectively, the scheme to be simple to navigate, applications to be determined without delay and for personal data to be handled sensitively.
Those who will be eligible include anyone who has suffered a permanent disablement of more than 14% in a Troubles-related incident in the UK, in
Europe, where the person is a British citizen born in Northern Ireland, was outside the UK in service of the Crown, or an accompanying close relative of the person serving outside the UK in service of the Crown.
The time period for such an injury is between January 1, 1966 and April 12, 2010, though the panel can overlook this time period if it undermines the purposes of the scheme.
Given the extent of injuries, which could include hearing loss, loss of a thumb and PTSD, it is likely to include thousands of victims. Added to this is the inclusion of victims not only in Northern Ireland, but also those in the rest of the UK.
Both these factors increase the scope and cost of the scheme, perhaps moving it beyond an Executive matter to one for the Government at Westminster.
In terms of injury amounting to disablement, this is defined in the regulations as “damage, disfigurement and loss of physical or mental capacity resulting from injury”. This will be assessed by a health professional through an applicant’s paperwork, where available, through the VSS, or medical records, rather than requiring each individual to be medically assessed in person.
The level of disablement will also determine the monthly payment amount, or lump sum, of the claimant, which is likely to range from £2,000 to £10,000 per year.
There are also provisions for those over the age of 60 to choose a lump sum and elderly, or terminally ill, applicants will be prioritised for assessment.
Support will also be provided to family members who had to give up careers and education opportunities to become fulltime carers through a 10-year pension on the death of the injured victim.
Under the regulations, a carer is someone who “regularly and substantially” engages in caring for the injured victim, such as being entitled to a carer’s allowance.
The pension for injured victims and carers is likely to operate for around 30 years, creating a substantial expense that would go beyond the current budget of the Executive.
One contentious issue, which has dogged the pension for injured victims for many years, has been whether or not those who were injured by their own hand would be eligible. Under the regulations, they are
explicitly excluded. In addition, individuals who have convictions longer than two-and-ahalf years, or life sentences, can also be ruled ineligible by the board, where it is considered a payment would be inappropriate.
As the scope of injury is quite broad, including physical and psychological injury amounting to permanent disablement, this is likely to exclude a number of individuals with convictions, but who were also unlawfully harmed. This may be difficult to square with the scheme’s purpose of acknowledgement and reconciliation.
Despite the complexity of the regulations and their scope, it is likely to incur a substantial financial commitment.
Seriously injured victims cannot wait any longer. Already some of the initial campaigners for the pension have passed away. As the scheme covers the whole of the UK, it only makes sense that the budget for the payments should be covered by Westminster to ensure that it is promptly, adequately and effectively delivered to all victims who deserve this acknowledgment and redress.
For too long, injured victims have shouldered the burden of the Troubles and, rightly, the Government should act in good faith to ensure these victims’ financial security and dignity in later years.