§ 3. Mr. Townsendasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish the completed reviews of the present legislation on persons and property compensation, and bring legislation before the House by the end of 1976.
§ The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office (Mr. J. D. Concannon)No, Sir. My right hon. Friend will inform the House of his intentions as soon as he is ready to do so.
§ Mr. TownsendDoes the Minister appreciate that soldiers who have served and who are serving in Northern Ireland rightly regard the present shilly-shallying over these complicated matters by Whitehall as unforgivable? Secondly, will the Minister at least promise the House that in future those convicted of acts of terrorism will not be entitled to free hand-outs at the taxpayers' expense? Finally, does the Minister appreciate that crippled soldiers are waiting years for compensation? What will he do about it?
§ Mr. ConcannonOn the accusation of shilly-shallying, as the hon. Gentleman said, these matters are complicated. They certainly are not easy. I know what I should like to see out of this, but all I can say to the hon. Gentleman is that he must be patient a little longer. We intend to put this right as soon as we possibly can.
§ Mr. McCuskerIs the hon. Gentleman aware of the grave disquiet that there is that this has not been brought forward sooner? Is he aware, for example, that a young woman who was left widowed with two young children as a result of the Bessbrook killing less than a year ago received compensation of less than £5,000 for herself and her two young children, and that this is hard to reconcile with the £11,000 and £16,000 paid out to living terrorists?
§ Mr. ConcannonOn the last point, I should say that this has nothing to do with the two pieces of legislation that will be coming before the House. This is something that happened in 1971 and is among the last of these incidents. Sometimes I wonder why the other 12 were not so furiously followed in this argument.