Lewis slams claims of no cash for victims’ pension
SF minister’s delay in payouts is ‘untenable’, says Secretary of State
BRANDON Lewis has dismissed as “untenable” claims from Stormont’s Finance Minister that he does not have the money to fund a victims’ pension scheme.
The Secretary of State said Conor Murphy’s assertion that the Executive coffers would not stretch to cover the costs of the project was not credible.
Mr Lewis, who claimed the first year of the scheme could cost less than £29m, noted that the Executive had an underspend of millions in the current financial year.
His remarks come amid an ongoing stand-off between the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) and Stormont over who should foot the potential £1.2bn bill.
Earlier this month, the Court of Appeal in Belfast ruled that Stormont was legally obliged to fund the payment scheme for injured victims of the Troubles. It gave the Executive and NIO four weeks to find an agreed solution.
During the impasse, Mr Lewis has singled out Mr Murphy and Sinn Fein for criticism.
Yesterday, he told BBC Radio Ulster: “With a £15bn (Treasury) block grant from the year where they’ve had an underspend... that they can’t find the few million pounds they need to find for what is a priority, what’s been a legal commitment, what has been there since 2014... for the Sinn Fein Department of Finance minister to continue to delay this is untenable.
“How can he stand there and say with any kind of credibility that from a £15bn block grant, he is not prepared to make decisions to allocate a few million pounds to the victims’ payment scheme that they have been committed to since 2014?”
The Tory MP said the situation emphasised the need for the Finance Minister to press ahead with setting up a delayed independent spending oversight body, as set out in the New Decade, New Approach deal to restore powersharing.
Mr Lewis claimed it would provide “transparency” over Mr Murphy’s claims that there are insufficient funds to pay for the victims’ scheme.
But Mr Murphy disputed Mr Lewis’s position and said the first-year estimate was as high as £145m. Accusing the Secretary of State of “dithering and delay”, he stressed that Westminster should pay for the scheme because it legislated for it.
“The Executive’s budgets are already stretched and the pension could amount to costs of up to £1.2bn. It is time the British Government acted to pay for the scheme it created so that victims should not have to face any further delays,” Mr Murphy added.
First Minister Arlene Foster, meanwhile, made clear that victims would get their payments.
She told BBC Radio Ulster: “It’s important to say to people, regardless of where the money comes from, whether it comes from the Executive or from the British Government, that the Executive will be paying the money when it falls due because that is our legal duty and it’s very important to say that.”
The Lord Chief Justice said yesterday he would be appointing Mr Justice Mcalinden as president of the Victims’ Payments Board, with effect from March 1. The board will be responsible for determining who is entitled to payments in respect of an injury caused by a Troubles-related incident.