Trouble With Troubles Pensions

 From the BBC:

“What's the trouble with the Troubles pension?”

The so-called Troubles pension has had a week in the headlines after a judge ruled the Executive Office acted unlawfully in stalling its introduction. Justice Minister Naomi Long said it could cost up to £800m and Sinn Féin MLA Martina Anderson infuriated innocent victims by stating the money was largely for "those who fought Britain's dirty war". BBC News NI home affairs correspondent Julian O'Neill looks at the scheme's detail and where its political controversy lies.

What is the Victims' Payment scheme?  The legislation came on to the statute book in January. To qualify, you have to have an injury which is severe and permanent and caused by no fault of your own. This can be physical injury, such as a loss of limbs, or psychological, caused by being present at a bombing, for example. The scheme covers violence related to the Northern Ireland Troubles between 1966 and 2010, including incidents in Great Britain and Europe. Non-UK residents injured outside the UK cannot apply - such as victims of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings carried out by loyalists in 1974. People will get between £2,000 and £10,000 a year for the rest of their lives. Upon their death, a spouse or carer, will get the payments for a further 10 years. The scheme is a recognition that criminal injuries awards from decades ago were largely inadequate.

Why did Sinn Féin say the pension was mainly for Army veterans?  This is largely a scheme for civilian victims from both communities, as demonstrated by the two people who brought the court case: Brian Turley suffered mental health problems due to Army interrogation and Jennifer McNern lost her legs in a bombing blamed on the IRA. But Sinn Féin has claimed that former soldiers will be lining up to lodge claims based on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It cannot be certain of this, or indeed the wholesale success of any such applications. Also, under the legislation, someone who qualifies may actually be awarded little or nothing in reality if they already receive other allowances such as an Army or police pension or another kind of injury payment. This has been referred to as "double-dipping" and should not happen. The judge's ruling came following legal challenges by two victims - including Jennifer McNern, pictured - to the continued impasse around introducing the scheme

Are the Government's rules discriminatory?  The legislation ignores a definition of a victim from 2006 which made no distinction between paramilitaries who were hurt staging attacks and those they murdered or injured. The scheme is therefore closed to those whose severe injury was self-inflicted; republican, loyalist or anyone else. But furthermore, a set of government guidelines for the judge-led panel which will rule on applications will potentially lead to more exclusions. They state anyone who injured another person and received a conviction of 30 months or more can expect to be rejected, though mitigating circumstances can be taken into account, such as showing remorse. The government has also stated it reserves the right to intervene on panel decisions it disagrees with.

If it's £800m, is it unaffordable? That's debatable but no-one knows the true costs yet. This scheme will run for two or three decades and payments are to be backdated to 2014 when it was first agreed. Several thousand people will apply, but who qualifies and who gets what, requires individual assessments. Stormont has said the scheme is unaffordable without cash from government and argues, after all, it was Westminster which brought in the legislation. Tory MP Simon Hoare has suggested £250m earmarked for Troubles legacy bodies can be used, but that would be controversial. Sinn Féin has been very vocal about affordability, though its opponents see this in the context of its dislike of a scheme that it has a much bigger issue with, namely who is eligible.

Where are things at then?  By law this scheme should have been running from May and it took a court case to get things moving. Some Troubles victims hope to see payments by Christmas, but that looks optimistic. Work could only begin at the Department of Justice very recently and there now needs to be serious discussions about funding. When the scheme begins, expect multiple legal challenges to the guidelines from rejected applicants. There is a danger political arguments around the pension will carry over into the toxic territory of legacy in coming months, with the government due to progress a plan to limit troubles investigations in order to protect Army veterans from future prosecutions.

^ I’ve said this before and will say it again. The victims from both sides of The Troubles (British/Northern Irish Protestants and the Northern Irish Catholics) deserve this compensation – in fact it is long over-due since The Troubles officially ended in 1998 (22 years ago.) I believe that only the truly innocent victims should get anything from this program. That means that the RUC/PSNI, the British Military, Protestant Paramilitary Groups and Catholic Paramilitary Groups should not get anything from this program. I’m sure this fight will continue for a long time which means the victims that need and deserve the money will be forced to wait even longer than the years/decades they already have. ^

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-53946847