Northern Ireland

Less than a third of applicants to abuse redress scheme awarded final compensation payments

Historical Institutional Abuse victims have been awarded £8,951,500 so far. File picture from Alan Lewis, Photopress
Historical Institutional Abuse victims have been awarded £8,951,500 so far. File picture from Alan Lewis, Photopress Historical Institutional Abuse victims have been awarded £8,951,500 so far. File picture from Alan Lewis, Photopress

FEWER than a third of applicants to the historical institutional abuse redress scheme have been awarded final compensation payments.

New figures show that 1,034 people have lodged applications for compensation to the Redress Board since March 31 2020.

Panels have awarded final financial awards to 291 people.

A total of 25 people had their applications for compensation turned down.

Initial payments have been awarded to 41 people while their applications are being assessed.

Victims who suffered abuse have been awarded £8,951,500 so far, including those who have been given initial payments.

Long-awaited legislation to set up a redress board was passed at Westminster in November 2019 - almost three years after an inquiry exposed serious sexual, physical and emotional abuse over decades at children's homes run by religious orders, charities and the state.

Individual applications for redress are being assessed by Redress Board panels.

A total of 422 applications have been progressed to a panel. The remaining 612 applications are yet to go before a panel.

Campaigner Margaret McGuckin, from Survivors and Victims of Institutional Abuse (Savia), has contacted MLAs to ask that all applications be assessed as quickly as possible.

"We're beseeching them," she said.

"We've walked this road for long enough. No one wanted this to go on forever and it has. This needs to be put to bed. People need to be able to go on and live their lives."