Mr. RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the average compensation award made to(a) victims and (b) relatives of victims of paramilitary violence for each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [98362]
§ Mr. IngramResponsibility for the subject in question has been delegated to the Compensation Agency under its Chief Executive, Mr. Denis Stanley. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from D.A. Stanley to Mr. Laurence Robertson, dated 10 November 1999:
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has asked me to reply to your recent Question about criminal injuries compensation in Northern Ireland.The Compensation Agency cannot provide information about the cost of compensation stemming specifically from paramilitary violence as there is often no way of ascertaining the motives of a victim's assailants unless a prosecution follows. In many cases where the assailant(s) are unknown, or where no prosecution has taken place, the Agency could only speculate about the perpetrator's motives and consequently figures provided on that basis would be very unreliableI am sorry that I cannot be more helpful.