The House will now have a one minute statement from Deputy Gay Mitchell on a matter appropriate to the Minister for Justice.
Adjournment Debate. - Justice Matter.
Thank you, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I understand I am allowed to make this statement under grievance time. I am not one to bear a grievance as the House will know but I would like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to raise this question of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal, and since I have only one minute the best I can do is to air my grievance by giving an example.
I have a constituent who had an accident in August 1984 and who applied to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal. Eventually in January of this year they sent his solicitor the offer of an award. This was signed by his solicitor and returned within the week. He has now been told that, all going well, he is in line for payment in or about September 1991 because, at the time of the acceptance of the award, the allocation of £2 million to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal had already been fully committed and a further £1.5 million from future funds had also already been committed. In my view this is a gross and total distortion of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal in the context of both their terms of reference and the objectives for which they were set up. The justice of the whole thing is, in my view, totally corrupt by the fact that the funds are not made available to them. It seems extraordinary, and totally unacceptable, that somebody who had an accident in 1984 should have to wait until September 1991 at best.
Deputy Mitchell will now have a grievance when I tell him he has been speaking for almost a minute and a half.
I suppose I am getting carried away listening to myself, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. This is a totally unacceptable situation. I thank you, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle for giving me the opportunity to raise this question.
The idea of Deputy Mitchell getting carried away is something I am trying to get to grips with, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle.
I can assure the Deputy that awards are paid as quickly as possible within the resources available to the tribunal. In each of the years 1988, 1989 and 1990 the sum of £2 million was provided in the Estimates for payment of compensation. In addition, £4 million was provided in 1988 by way of Supplementary Estimate and £0.34 million was provided out of savings in 1989.
In the case of awards now being paid by the tribunal the delay from date of acceptance to date of payment has been approximately one year. The current position regarding delays in the making of payment of awards of compensation at the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal was set out in my reply to a parliamentary question put down by Deputy Quinn on 31 October 1990.
It can be taken that the matter of possible extra funding for the tribunal is being kept under review.
The Dáil adjourned at 4.45 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 20 November 1990.