Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether he has made representations to the Secretary of State for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on the adequacy of (a) the Criminal Injuries Compensation scheme and b) the Troubles Permanent Disablement scheme for family members of the bereaved.

The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and his officials regularly engage with their counterparts in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on a large variety of issues.

We recognise that there is a wider issue in Northern Ireland around the suitability of arrangements to make payments to the bereaved, and the Secretary of State has encouraged the Executive to consider what more could be done to help.