To ask the Minister of Finance and Personnel if his Department has any proposals to offer compensation to asbestosis and plural plaque sufferers.

In October 2007 the House of Lords ruled that claims for compensation regarding asymptomatic pleural plaques could no longer be made under the law of negligence. We are currently preparing a consultation paper which will explore the implications of that judgment and invite views on how people in Northern Ireland with pleural plaques can be supported and assisted. The House of Lords ruling does not relate to claims for compensation regarding asbestosis and, as the law stands, people with asbestosis may still submit a claim on the basis of negligent exposure to asbestos.