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NI: Compensation Costs

01 November 1993

There has been a sharp increase in the cost of compensation for damage to property caused largely by the IRA. The total amounts of compensation paid out in Northern Ireland for terrorist related criminal damage claims which were settled in each year since 1982-3 were as follows:

Year of settlement Amount Paid £ million

1982-3 25.5
1983-4 22.3
1984-5 22.9
1985-6 16.7
1986-7 18.9
1987-8 10.6
1988-9 16.9
1989-90 18.4
1990-1 18.9
1991-2 19.7
1992-3 40.2

Under Section 63 of the 1991 Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act, compensation can be paid by the Secretary of State for any personal property taken, occupied or destroyed by the RUC or British Army. In 1992-93, a total of 2.8 million was paid out under Section 63, an increase of 49% on the previous year. In the calendar year 1992, the Army searched a total of 751 dwellings while the RUC searched 3,415. Over a 24hr period on 18 and 19 October the RUC and Army raided 94 homes in West Belfast. This was just prior to the week which witnessed a total of 23 deaths, including those in the Shankill fish shop and the bar at Greysteel, Co. Derry.

The Law Society of Northern Ireland (which represents solicitors) has complained about "draconian" proposals for changing the basis of criminal injuries compensation for which the government has already paid out £16.7 million this year. What has reportedly angered victims the most is the idea that compensation based on actual pain, suffering and financial loss should be replaced by a simple payment to mark "society's sympathy and concern for the victim". The proposals include abolition of the right to claim for wages lost, a once-off payment of between £20-25K to families who lose a breadwinner as a result of the conflict.

Commons Hansard 1.7.1993 written answers col 581-2; Commons Hansard 4.11.1993 written answers col 358; Irish News 27.8.93; Belfast Telegraph 10.11.93.<