People in Northern Ireland, who contract Mesothelioma, through contact with asbestos, are to be provided with immediate compensation, under a new Bill introduced by DSD Minister Margaret Ritchie.

The Mesothelioma compensation Bill, which passed its second stage at Stormont on Tuesday, will "break new ground", according to Ms Ritchie, by extending payments to all suffers.

This means the bill will include women who contracted the illness by washing their husband's work clothes. These women represent some of the 40 to 50 people who die annually from the disease in the Province.

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Minister Ritchie said: "I will give early access to a lump sum payable within weeks of diagnosis. This means sufferers will get compensation while they can still benefit from it during the final months of their lives."

Hundreds of former shipyards and other heavy industries workers have died from asbestos related diseases. However, the new Bill will not require claimants to prove an occupational link in order to receive the compensation.

It will also cover former-children who had contact with their father’s overalls, as well as those who lived near factories which used asbestos.

In some cases the malignant mesothelioma tumour can form around 25 to 40 years after exposure to asbestos. The cancer attacks the body's protective lining of most of the body's internal organs (mesothelium) and reduces average life expectancy to nine months.

(PR)