Pneumoconiosis, etc., (Workers' Compensation) (Payment of Claims) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000

Made: 18th April 2000

To be laid before Parliament under paragraph 7(3) of the Schedule to the Northern Ireland Act 2000

Coming into operation: 1st June 2000

The Department of Higher and Further Education, Training and Employment, in exercise of the powers conferred by Articles 2(2), 3(3), 4(3), 11(1) and (4) of the Pneumoconiosis, etc., (Workers' Compensation) (Northern Ireland) Order 1979[^f00001] and now vested in it[^f00002] and of every other power enabling it in that behalf, hereby makes the following Regulations:

Citation, commencement and interpretation

1

• (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Pneumoconiosis, etc., (Workers' Compensation) (Payment of Claims) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 and shall come into operation on 1st June 2000.

• (2) In these Regulations—

• (a) “the Order” means the Pneumoconiosis, etc., (Workers' Compensation) (Northern Ireland) Order 1979;

• (b) “the principal Regulations” means the Pneumoconiosis, etc., (Workers' Compensation) (Payment of Claims) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1988[^f00003].

Amendment of the principal Regulations

2

• (1) The principal Regulations shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (4) in relation to any case in which a person first satisfies the conditions of entitlement to a payment under the Order on or after 1st June 2000.

• (2) For the Schedule to the principal Regulations there shall be substituted the Schedule set out in the Schedule to these Regulations.

• (3) In regulations 5(2) (payment where death results from diffuse mesothelioma) and 7 (minimum amount payable to dependant) for “£1,943” in each place where it occurs there shall be substituted “£1,992”.

• (4) In regulation 6(1) (payment where pneumoconiosis is accompanied by tuberculosis) for “£4,020” (in each place where it occurs) there shall be substituted “£4,121”.

SCHEDULE

SCHEDULE (1) Table 1 is for the determination of payments to disabled persons under regulation 3 (or regulation 6), and for the determination of payments to dependants of deceased sufferers under regulation 4(1). (2) The relevant period is the period specified in regulation 3(2) or, in the case of a disabled person to whom regulation 6 applies (payment where pneumoconiosis is accompanied by tuberculosis) the first period specified in paragraph 6(1)(b). (3) The age to be taken for the purpose of determining the amount payable to a disabled person is his age on the date specified in regulation 3(2) or, in the case of a disabled person to whom regulation 6 applies (payment where pneumoconiosis is accompanied by tuberculosis), regulation 6(1). In determining the amount payable to a dependant of a disabled person under regulation 4(1), the age to be taken for the purpose of calculating the sum to be deducted from the amount which would have been payable to the disabled person had he still been alive is the age of the deceased at his last birthday preceding his death.

(1) Table 2 is for the determination of additional payments under regulation 4(2) to dependants of deceased sufferers who died as a result of the disease and for the determination of payments to dependants under regulation 4(6). (2) The relevant period is the period specified in regulation 3(2) or, in the case of a disabled person to whom regulation 6 applies (payment where pneumoconiosis is accompanied by tuberculosis), the first period specified in paragraph 6(1)(b).

Signed

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Higher and Further Education, Training and Employment on 18th April 2000.

R. B. Gamble — A senior officer of the — Department of Higher and Futher Education, Training and Employment

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

Under the Pneumoconiosis, etc., (Workers' Compensation) (Northern Ireland) Order 1979 (“the Order”) lump sum payments may be made to certain persons disabled by a disease to which the Order applies, or to dependants of persons who were so disabled immediately before they died.

These Regulations amend the Pneumoconiosis, etc., (Workers' Compensation) (Payment of Claims) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1988, as amended, so as to increase the amount payable under the Order. The increase in each case is 2.5 per cent, rounded up or down to the nearest £1 as appropriate.

The diseases to which the Order applies are pneumoconiosis, byssinosis, diffuse mesothelioma, primary carcinoma of the lung (where accompanied by asbestosis or diffuse pleural thickening) and diffuse pleural thickening.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: S.I. 1979/925 (N.I. 9); relevant amending legislation is S.I. 1985/1209 (N.I. 16) Article 22, S.I. 1986/1888 (N.I. 18) Schedule 3, paragraph 17 and 1992 c. 9 Schedule 2, paragraph 22

[^f00002]: The Departments (Transfer and Assignment of Functions) Order (Northern Ireland) 1999 (S.R. 1999 No. 481) transferred functions under the Pneumoconiosis, etc,. (Workers' Compensation) (Northern Ireland) Order 1979 to the Department of Higher and Further Education, Training and Employment

[^f00003]: S.R. 1988 No. 242 as amended by S.R. 1989 No. 240, S.R. 1991 No. 120, S.R. 1992 No. 213, S.R. 1993 No. 325, S.R. 1995 No. 338, S.R. 1996 No. 485, S.R. 1997 No. 409 and S.R. 1998 No. 358