Laura Banks

The announcement by Health Minister Robin Swann concerns people on the NI Infected Blood Payment Scheme, who were diagnosed with Hepatitis C or HIV after receiving NHS-supplied infected blood or blood products.

The health minister said the increases, which follow significant increases in England in April 2019, will ensure that victims in Northern Ireland are “no worse off in terms of financial support on the scheme than their counterparts in England for the 2019/20 financial year”.

Nigel Hamilton, a victim in Northern Ireland, had instructed Francis Hanna & Co Solicitors to pursue a judicial review alleging that the Department of Health had acted unlawfully and in breach of its human rights obligations by failing to bring payments in Northern Ireland in line with England.

Solicitor Laura Banks, acting for Mr Hamilton, said: “We are pleased that our client and the many other victims throughout Northern Ireland are now receiving financial parity with their counterparts in England, at long last.

“However, it is important to remember that these are victims of what has been dubbed the worst disaster in the history of the NHS. Thousands of lives were ruined when people were given contaminated blood – a tragedy that should never have happened. Victims have campaigned for decades for a UK-wide inquiry into this scandal which is now ongoing.”

She added: “Until now, victims in Northern Ireland had been subjected to additional injustice. A life in Northern Ireland is worth no less than a life in England and this disparity ought to have been rectified long before now.

“Our client has fought tirelessly to achieve this outcome despite his ill health – something he should never have had to do. Nonetheless, we welcome this development and hope that it goes some way to improve the lives of those in Northern Ireland who fell victim to this harrowing tragedy.”