Responding to news that a court case on the Troubles Permanent Disablement Payment Scheme has been adjourned until 26 March, Doug Beattie MC MLA said:
“These creeping extensions to a legal judgment are chipping away at the confidence of permanently disabled victims of the Troubles who were promised financial support. It is unlikely that the payment scheme they have been promised will be making payments any time soon. It is really shameful and demonstrates a total lack of respect towards these seriously injured victims that this hasn’t been resolved yet.
“If the date is slipping for the scheme opening for applications, what will the effect be for first expected payment dates? There are also questions hanging over how those who have waited the longest will be prioritised within the system.
“Every day this drags on is a day when injured Troubles victims are being denied the support they have been promised. The growing delays are a total failure by The Executive Office to fulfil not just their legal obligations, but their moral obligations too. It smacks of political posturing and disagreements and it highlights just how divided our Executive Office is if they cannot even prioritise some of the most vulnerable in our society.”