§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what is his estimate of the date by which all the buildings destroyed and demolished as a consequence of the bomb explosion in Coleraine on 13 November will be rebuilt;
(2) what are the total sums which were agreed for damage to property arising from damage by terrorist action in each of the last three years for which figures are available; and by how much those sums were reduced because of betterment;
(3) how many buildings were damaged in the terrorist bomb explosion in Coleraine on the night of 13 November; and what is his estimate of the cost of repairs;
(4) what is his estimate of the total cost of the damage caused by the bomb explosion in Coleraine on 13 November;
(5) what is his estimate of the cost of damage to property caused by terrorist action since 1 January to the latest available date;
(6) when he expects the repairs on all the buildings damaged by the bomb explosion in Coleraine on 13 November to be completed;
608W(7) what is his estimate of the betterment element in respect of the commercial buildings damaged and destroyed as a consequence of the bomb explosion in Coleraine on 13 November; and what the total cost of interest charges would be on that betterment element at the present lowest level of bank interest presently prevailing in Northern Ireland;
(8) what is his estimate of the value of the commercial buildings damaged and destroyed or demolished as a consequence of the bomb explosion in Coleraine on 13 November; and what is his estimate of the cost of repairing and replacing those premises;
(9) how many buildings have had to be demolished in Coleraine as a result of the terrorist bomb explosion on 13 November; and what is his estimate of the cost of replacing them.
§ Mr. MatesResponsibility for the subject in question has been delegated to the Compensation Agency under its chief executive, Mr. J. Robinson. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from J. Robinson to Mr. William Ross, dated 20 November 1992:
I refer to your recent Parliamentary Questions concerning criminal damage compensation and in particular damage to property in Coleraine on 13 November. The Secretary of State has asked me to respond.
Approximately 300 buildings were partially damaged as a result of this incident. The current estimate of damage to these properties is £5 million. Six buildings were so seriously damaged as to require demolition and our preliminary estimate is that the compensation due for these claims will be around £3 million. The estimate for the total amount of compensation that will be payable is respect of damage to buildings, contents and consequential loss is £11 million.
With regard to commercial buildings our loss adjusters estimate that damage amounting to £7.5 million was incurred. An estimate of the value of these buildings is not available. The levels of "betterment" involved cannot be estimated since they can vary significantly depending on the nature and scale of reinstatement.
It is not possible to estimate with any accuracy the time that will be taken to fully repair or reinstate the properties damaged as much depends on matters outside the direct control of the Compensation Agency. However the Agency will ensure that all practical steps are taken to facilitate the processing of claims including, where necessary, the issuing of interim payments to assist claimants in the speedy reinstatement of their property.
The following table details the total settlement value of terrorist related claims cleared in each of the last three calendar years:
Year Value £'000 1989 17,845 1990 13,289 1991 22,934 I regret that I am unable to supply details of "betterment" deductions as such information is not available.
The current estimate for the cost of terrorist related damage incurred in 1992 to date is £76 million.
§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many persons are out of work as a consequence of the terrorist bomb explosion in Coleraine on 13 November.
§ Mr. HanleyThe payment of benefit to unemployed people is the responsibility of the Social Security Agency under its chief executive, Mr. Alec Wylie. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
609WLetter from A. Wylie to Mr. William Ross, dated 20 November 1992:
As I am responsible for the payment of benefit to unemployed people your recent Parliamentary Question about the number of people out of work as a consequence of the terrorist bomb explosion in Coleraine on 13 November 1992 has been passed to me for reply.
While the full impact of this attack has yet to be assessed, to date three people have registered as unemployed as a result of the explosion.
I hope you find this information helpful. A copy of this reply will appear in the Official Report and copies will be placed in the Library.