§ Lord CLIFFORD of CHUDLEIGHMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government, in view of the BBC report on 11th August that £¾ million worth of damage to property and vehicles et cetera had been done in Northern Ireland on that one day by the IRA, what their estimate is of the total amount of like damage done there in the last seven years.
§ The MINISTER of STATE, NORTHERN IRELAND OFFICE (Lord Melchett)My Lords, when dealing with compensation claims for damage to property it is not possible to distinguish between damage caused by the IRA and that caused by any other unlawful group. The total compensation already paid, together with the estimated amount still to be paid, in respect of damage to property under the Northern Ireland Criminal Injury Acts in the period 1st April 1969 to 30th September 1976 is about £190 million.
§ Lord CLIFFORD of CHUDLEIGHMy Lords, while thanking the noble Lord for that reply, may I ask him how these repairs or replacements are paid for? If they are paid for by an insurance scheme, who pays the premiums? If it is the United Kingdom Treasury, could I ask the noble Lord whether that sum was included in the Written Answer that his noble friend gave to me on 29th July?
§ Lord MELCHETTMy Lords, the sums are paid by the United Kingdom Treasury. I am afraid I could not say whether they were covered in a particular Written Answer without being told what was said in that Answer.
§ The Earl of ONSLOWMy Lords, did I understand the noble Lord to say that he could not give an estimate of the amount of damage which was done by the IRA as opposed to that done by other criminal groups? Is he really saying that it is totally impossible to know what the IRA have done as opposed to what the Ulster Right-Wing terrorists have done? Could he possibly be more forth-coming on that point?
§ Lord MELCHETTMy Lords, as the noble Lord will know, under the terms of the legislation governing compensation for damage to property caused by unlawful organisations such as the IRA, the Chief Constable is empowered to issue a certificate that in his opinion—that is, in the Chief Constable's opinion—the act causing the damage was committed maliciously by a person acting on behalf of or in connection with an unlawful organisation. The Act does not require the Chief Constable to attribute the damage to a particular unlawful organisation; and I think it is perfectly clear that to ask the Chief Constable to attempt to do that would, first of all, place a very considerable burden upon him, and secondly, of course, would not always be practicable in a particular instance.
§ Lord SLATERMy Lords, is my noble friend aware that this particular Question asks for something which it is almost impossible to assess when we look back over the period of time since these troubles first started in Northern Ireland? I think my noble friend has done his best to give an answer in a positive way to the Question which has been asked, and I hope the noble Lord, when he gives it further consideration, will accept that position.
§ Lord MELCHETTMy Lords, I am very grateful for what my noble friend has said.
§ Lord CLIFFORD of CHUDLEIGHMy Lords, as it seems that the cost of Northern Ireland is running at about 291 £500 million a year, may I ask what Her Majesty's Government have done to inform the inhabitants, not only of this island but of the Republic and the United States of America, inter alia, of the burden that this country is shouldering as a result of that unhappy Province?
§ Lord MELCHETTMy Lords, the Government have constantly reiterated the message that the damage which has been caused to Northern Ireland by bombings, fire and so on is enormous, and that message will continue to be conveyed by Government Ministers at every possible opportunity.