Victims tell of their relief as Stormont finally moves on pensions

VICTIMS seriously injured in the Troubles have welcomed the announcement that the Department of Justice is to administer their pension scheme.

However, details of who funds it are still to be hammered out in negotiations between Stormont and London.

Alan Mcbride of the Wave Trauma Centre last night said: “It is brilliant news that the Department of Justice has been designated to run this scheme.

“It is about time that the wheels were put in motion. Now let’s try to get agreement on who will finance it.”

A Stormont source said: “The pension will be paid from the Northern Ireland block grant as soon as it is set up.

“The Treasury will contribute. It’s just a question of how much it pays and how much Stormont pays.

“The pension will cover victims across the UK, not just in Northern Ireland, so there is no question of the Treasury not contributing.”

DUP MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said: “It is another step in the right direction for innocent victims who have campaigned for such a payment for the best part of this decade.

“Sinn Fein’s objection to bombers being excluded from this pension makes no sense to the vast majority of people in Northern Ireland. It is now time to work at full speed to enable payments to be made.”

UUP MLA Doug Beattie said that Deputy First Minister Michelle O’neill had behaved atrociously.

“That it took a High Court judge to have to force her to act on this matter should be a source of eternal shame,” he said.

“Now that we finally have a department designated to administer the scheme, it is time to move on, adhere to the law and act swiftly to ensure that the innocent victims receive the pension they deserve.”

Kenny Donaldson of Innocent Victims United said that Justice was the right Stormont department to administer the scheme. He added: “The UK Government must now be constructive in discussions around the budget.

“We believe that Westminster should centrally provide finance for the historical payments due victims from the period of Stormont House (2014) to the point the Executive was restored, with Stormont then picking up the tab on an annual basis thereafter.”

Mrs O’neill agreed to progress the pension payments after a judge ruled that an ongoing delay was unlawful.

The Sinn Fein vice-president was criticised by the High Court last week for refusing to comply with a legislative requirement to set up the scheme.

The Executive Office last night said: “The office has agreed to provide grants to the Department of Justice to establish the administrative arrangements for the scheme.

“This will allow the recruitment of board members, IT developments and other steps needed to establish the board to proceed.”

The joint legal challenge against the delay was brought by Jennifer Mcnern, who lost both legs in the IRA’S 1972 Abercorn bomb, and Brian Turley, one of the ‘Hooded Men’ subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment by the British Army in 1971.

The pension scheme had been in limbo because Sinn Fein claimed its eligibility criteria were discriminatory and would potentially exclude thousands of republicans with past convictions.

Justice Minister Naomi Long said: “It is clear that there remains a lack of political agreement over aspects of the scheme and, in particular, there is an urgent need to resolve the source of funding for the payments.

“I am absolutely clear that the UK Government has a critical role to play in this regard.”

Mrs Long said she was committed to taking the scheme forward as quickly as possible.

“There will be a number of steps which need to be gone through before the scheme can open for applications and before payments can commence,” she added.

“However, today’s developments mean work on the new scheme can be advanced in earnest.”