Public Expenditure: Draft Budget 2022-25

Part of Ministerial Statements – in the Northern Ireland Assembly at 3:30 pm on 13 December 2021.

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Photo of Conor Murphy Conor Murphy Sinn Féin 3:30, 13 December 2021

For victims' payments — we have an ongoing issue in discussions with the Treasury about those — it seemed to me that the way in which that system was set up ensured that the admin costs would be kept to a lower level and that the maximum cost allocation from that scheme would be to the people who were to be awarded compensation.

The scheme was delivered by TEO in conjunction with the Department of Justice, and I want to make sure that lessons are learned from it, because it is key that admin be kept to a minimum. It is about recognising the pain, the hurt and the injustice that was done to those families and individuals over many years. If we are to follow through on their experiences, and I am glad that the Executive Office committed to following through, we need to ensure that the lion's share of the money goes directly to those people.

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