People suffering from the asbestos-related lung condition pleural plaques - usually contracted in the building sector - will be able to seek compensation from next week due to new legislation.
The NI Finance Minister Sammy Wilson said the legislation to allow workers to pursue claims and noted that the Stormont Executive has already set aside £2.5m for claims.
The legislation reverses a House of Lords decision of 2007, which ruled victims could not claim compensation with Minister Wilson now saying that the Damages (Asbestos-related Conditions) Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 will come into operation on 14 December.
He confirmed that the purpose of the 2011 Act is to reverse the decision of the House of Lords in Johnston v NEI International Combustion Ltd and conjoined cases 2007. In that case, the Court had ruled out the possibility of a claim in negligence for asymptomatic asbestos-related pleural plaques.
The corresponding legislation in Scotland was the subject of a long-running challenge, which was initiated by insurers and which came before the UK Supreme Court. On 12 October 2011, the Supreme Court rejected the insurers' claims that the legislation infringed their human rights and was outside the competence of the Scottish Parliament.
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The 2011 Act specifically provides that asymptomatic asbestos-related pleural plaques and certain other asbestos-related conditions constitute actionable personal injury.
This means that, from 14 December 2011, people in Northern Ireland will once again be able to claim compensation in respect of those conditions.
Mr Wilson said: "I am very pleased to announce the commencement of the Damages (Asbestos-related Conditions) Act (Northern Ireland) 2011.
"The challenge to the corresponding legislation in Scotland cast a long shadow and I fought hard to get the Northern Ireland legislation through the Assembly and submitted for Royal Assent.
"However, I always believed that the policy objectives of the Act were just and fair and that belief has now been vindicated by the ruling of the UK Supreme Court in relation to the Scottish legislation," he said.
"The 2011 Act may be short and targeted, but it is a vitally important Act, which seeks to ensure the continued availability of a method of redress for ordinary working men and women."
The Minister continued: "It must be devastating to be told that you have developed a condition as a result of having been exposed to asbestos. To be told then that you couldn't claim compensation for that condition would clearly make the matter worse.
"That was the effect of the decision in the Johnston case and it is not surprising that people affected by the decision sought redress through Ministers and the Assembly.
"The 2011 Act essentially reverses that decision and, whilst the ability to pursue a claim in damages will not fully compensate for any wrong which was done, I hope that those affected will derive some comfort from the fact that the wrongdoer can once again be held to account," he said.
Pleural plaques are small, localised areas of fibrosis found within the pleura of the lung caused by asbestos exposure.
Earlier decisions had established that it was possible for damages to be awarded for negligent exposure to asbestos as was often the case when men were working with the since banned asbestos materials on building sites or when involved in demolition of properties that contained the material.
(BMcC/GK)
