PROBE AFTER BOMB VICTIMS STRIP ORDEAL
Probe after bomb victim's strip ordeal
By Simon Doyle
VICTIMS minister Des Browne is to investigate claims by people injured in the Omagh bomb that they were treated appallingly by the Compensation Agency.
Rosemary Ingram, who was treated in hospital for shrapnel injuries sustained in the 1998 blast, accused the Compensation Agency of degrading treatment in assessing her claims.
It is understood that school exam results were also examined closely to calculate the potential lost earnings of the teenage victims.
Receipts are also understood to have been demanded for clothes that were blown off people in the explosion.
AN NIO spokeswoman said she could not comment on individual cases but added there were two elements to each claim made under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme.
The first task, she said, was to determine the pain and suffering inflicted. The second was to determine the financial loss suffered.
She added that NIO minister Des Browne would now investigate the claims made against the Compensation Agency.
"We recognise that this is a sensitive and painful issue for all concerned. The greatest possible care is taken in assessing compensation and the minister Des Browne is aware of Ms Ingram's case and is looking into the issue."
Rosemary Ingram said she had to undergo a humiliating strip ordeal in front of six lawyers to allow then to examine her wounds to assess her compensation.
Her brother Stanley McCombe, whose wife Anne was killed in the bombing, said Ms Ingram was upset by her ordeal.
"Rosemary and I are very close and I know that after that she was really upset and she said it was so degrading that she had to be standing there in her underwear," he said.
"We have medical people who have given reports as to her injuries and I think that should have sufficed."
Former Victims Commissioner Sir Kenneth Bloomfield said it was important that the nature and extent of injuries were determined.
He said it was important to give full justice to applicant's claims while having regard to the traumatic experience they had been through.
At the same time, he said, it was crucial that officials were reasonably satisfied that the particular payment is justified.
"It is a question of striking a balance between the requirement of accountability on one hand and the need for sensitivity on the other," he said.
He added that if a qualified medical practitioner was able to produce convincing evidence that the injuries were of a certain kind, it was difficult to see why less qualified people would question that.
By Simon Doyle
VICTIMS minister Des Browne is to investigate claims by people injured in the Omagh bomb that they were treated appallingly by the Compensation Agency.
Rosemary Ingram, who was treated in hospital for shrapnel injuries sustained in the 1998 blast, accused the Compensation Agency of degrading treatment in assessing her claims.
It is understood that school exam results were also examined closely to calculate the potential lost earnings of the teenage victims.
Receipts are also understood to have been demanded for clothes that were blown off people in the explosion.
AN NIO spokeswoman said she could not comment on individual cases but added there were two elements to each claim made under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme.
The first task, she said, was to determine the pain and suffering inflicted. The second was to determine the financial loss suffered.
She added that NIO minister Des Browne would now investigate the claims made against the Compensation Agency.
"We recognise that this is a sensitive and painful issue for all concerned. The greatest possible care is taken in assessing compensation and the minister Des Browne is aware of Ms Ingram's case and is looking into the issue."
Rosemary Ingram said she had to undergo a humiliating strip ordeal in front of six lawyers to allow then to examine her wounds to assess her compensation.
Her brother Stanley McCombe, whose wife Anne was killed in the bombing, said Ms Ingram was upset by her ordeal.
"Rosemary and I are very close and I know that after that she was really upset and she said it was so degrading that she had to be standing there in her underwear," he said.
"We have medical people who have given reports as to her injuries and I think that should have sufficed."
Former Victims Commissioner Sir Kenneth Bloomfield said it was important that the nature and extent of injuries were determined.
He said it was important to give full justice to applicant's claims while having regard to the traumatic experience they had been through.
At the same time, he said, it was crucial that officials were reasonably satisfied that the particular payment is justified.
"It is a question of striking a balance between the requirement of accountability on one hand and the need for sensitivity on the other," he said.
He added that if a qualified medical practitioner was able to produce convincing evidence that the injuries were of a certain kind, it was difficult to see why less qualified people would question that.
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/0576
Published Date: 27-Aug-02
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