MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde is backing a new Holyrood Bill aimed at ensuring asbestos victims are compensated before their death.
30th May 2006
McNeil Backs Asbestos Compensation Bill
MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde is
backing a new Holyrood Bill aimed at ensuring asbestos victims are compensated
before their death.
Clydebank
MSP, Des McNulty, has lodged a proposal for a Member’s Bill which would
“improve compensation for asbestos victims and relatives of persons deceased
through personal injury attributable to asbestos-related diseases.”
Registering
his support, Mr McNeil said:
“The
recent Law Lords’ ruling limiting mesothelioma victims’ compensation if they
had several employers who exposed them to asbestos not only goes against the
important Scots law principle that liability cannot be apportioned, it means
that victims or their families will need to fight harder and wait longer to
receive less.
“This Bill, therefore, aims
to overturn this decision and ensure that asbestos victims are compensated
before their death.”
Speaking as he launched his
Bill proposal, Mr McNulty said:
“Six
people die every day from mesothelioma and, once diagnosed, victims rarely
survive beyond 2 years.
“If
my proposed Asbestos (Improved Compensation) Bill is passed by the Scottish
Parliament, it will fix an anomaly in damages legislation which puts victims in
the heart-rending dilemma of having to choose whether or not they should pursue
their claim for damages and live their remaining months with dignity or to defer
making their claim so that the family they leave behind would be better off.
“Court
procedures put in place to speed up settlement of asbestos cases are not being
used as intended because of this anomaly. We
need this change in the law to ensure justice for asbestos victims and their
families”
“The
recent House of Lords ruling has the potential to cut compensation payments to
victims by 90%. Ensuring asbestos
victims receive full compensation should be a top human rights priority for the
Scottish Parliament. This ruling,
which overturns accepted principles of Scots law, must not be allowed to affect
the claims of asbestos victims and their families in the Scottish Courts. The
Bill allows Parliament to legislate to protect victims.”
ENDS
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