Sinn Fein condmens NI Secretary over victims pension funding suggestion

By Rebecca Black, PA

Sinn Fein has criticised a suggestion by Secretary of State that the victims pension should be paid for with funds set aside for the New Decade New Approach deal.

Belfast and London have been at loggerheads over who should meet the cost of the Troubles Permanent Disablement Scheme, which has been estimated could reach £1.2 billion.

In a series of tweets on Friday, Brandon Lewis stood by his position that the Stormont Executive is well-funded through the block grant as well as its own revenue raising capabilities.

The devolved funding settlement means that the Executive is well-funded through the block grant, together with its own revenue raising capabilities, to deliver its statutory responsibilities.
(2/3)

— Brandon Lewis (@BrandonLewis) March 19, 2021

However he also said he has taken the “exceptional approach” of offering access to funds set aside for the New Decade New Approach deal to “help the Executive manage the cost of the scheme”.

However, to enable the Executive to make progress for victims and recognising the higher pressures in the early years of the scheme,
I have taken the exceptional approach of offering access to NDNA funds that will help the Executive manage the cost of the scheme.
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— Brandon Lewis (@BrandonLewis) March 19, 2021

Among the financial commitments the UK Government made in the New Decade New Approach deal to restore powersharing was £140 million of funding to address what were described as Northern Ireland’s “unique circumstances”.

This included issues related to the legacy of the Troubles.

It is understood that Mr Lewis is proposing that £100 million of this pot could be used to part fund the victims’ payments scheme.

Stormont Finance Minister Conor Murphy dismissed the suggestion as “not conducive to finding a solution for victims” and also claimed Mr Lewis has refused to meet with Executive ministers on the matter.

He contends that as Westminster legislated for the scheme, it should provide funding.

(Finance Minister Conor Murphy)

Mr Murphy insists the scheme developed by the Government has a wider scope than the version agreed by local parties in the 2014 Stormont House Agreement.

The minister suggested that the funding should be spilt, with the Executive covering the costs of what the original scheme would have paid out and the Government paying for the rest.

“On March 3 I wrote to the Secretary of State recommending that the Executive cover in full the costs of the scheme envisaged at Stormont House, with the British Government funding the rest of the scheme,” the Sinn Fein man said.

“This was a reasonable solution that would provide certainty for victims.

“In the subsequent two weeks Mr Lewis declined to meet Executive colleagues and I to discuss this proposition.

“Via social media the Secretary of State has today offered to divert money which is already set aside as part of New Decade New Approach and which is not additional.

“This is not a constructive approach to finding a resolution for victims.”

Last month, the Court of Appeal in Belfast ruled that Stormont was under a legal duty to fund the payment scheme for injured victims of the conflict.

It made no finding on the source of that funding and gave the Executive and Northern Ireland Office four weeks to agree a solution.