In Northern Ireland, Social Development Minister Margaret Ritchie has introduced a mesothelioma compensation bill to the Parliament of Northern Ireland. Parliament is also referred to as “Stormont” because of its location in the Belfast area.
Her bill will extend payment to all sufferers even if they do not have an occupational or causal link. That also means that spouses who were exposed to asbestos by washing work clothes or children who may have played with the work clothes will benefit as will those who lived near the factories that used asbestos.
“I will give early access to a lump sum payable within weeks of diagnosis,” she said.
“This means sufferers will get compensation while they can still benefit from it during the final months of their lives.”
Mesiothelioma is a signal of asbestos exposure and can follow exposure by upwards of 25 years. It attacks the mesothelium, the protective lining of many of the body’s internal organs and leaves its victim with a shortened life expectancy – on average up to a year.
