Mr Justice McAlinden made his comments to the Stormont Executive Office committee.
A senior judge has challenged the Northern Ireland Assembly to agree a support scheme for those bereaved in the Troubles.
Mr Justice McAlinden serves as president of the Victims’ Payments Board which delivers payments to those eligible for the Troubles Permanent Disablement Payment Scheme.
He told the Stormont Executive Office committee on Wednesday that it does him “great upset” that the bereaved are not included in the scheme.
While some who were bereaved can be eligible for the scheme under some circumstances, it is not open to all who were bereaved.
Speaking just months before the scheme is due to close for new applications, Mr Justice McAlinden said it had had its limitations because it had been imposed by Westminster after Stormont could not agree it.
“I know that this scheme has its limitations, I do know that this scheme doesn’t please everybody,” he told MLAs.
“I am convinced that this scheme had to be put in place because locally it couldn’t be agreed, it’s unfortunate it couldn’t be agreed but it couldn’t be agreed, so that’s the scheme I have to operate, that’s the difficulty I face day in and day out operating this scheme, and it does me great upset to think there are a whole category of individuals, namely the bereaved, that I can’t do anything for.”
He went on to challenge Stormont to fix this.
“We need a scheme for the bereaved, let’s work together and construct a scheme for the bereaved because things can be achieved when people work together, and it’s not beyond the wit and wisdom of the combined resources in this room, or the combined resources in the Assembly chamber to work together to the benefit of all people in Northern Ireland,” he said.
Earlier in the meeting, the committee heard that £139 million had been paid out so far in the current scheme which will close to new applicants at the end of August.
It opened on August 31 2021, with the aim of providing those living with a disablement through no fault of their own in the Troubles with a payment in recognition of the harm they suffered, and impact on their carers.
The scheme, administered by the Victims’ Payments Board (VPB), can award payments ranging from £2,494 to £12,471 per annum to those eligible.
The leaders of the VPB appeared before the Executive Office committee on Wednesday.
VPB secretary Paul Bullick told MLAs that as of this week, around £139 million had been paid to eligible applicants.
He said they had received just over 13,000 applications to the scheme, including around 950 from applicants outside of Northern Ireland, and that they expected a small spike before the scheme closed.
VPB president Mr Justice McAlinden highlighted that they had received a limited number of applications from veterans.
“We’re certainly making every effort to ensure through contact with veterans’ organisations that people do not feel put off making applications, that the scheme is for them as well,” he said.
“There are issues in relation to the deductions from other payments, etc, we’ll face those issues but we always have to address every issue under the scheme in a victim-centric manner, with a victim-centric focus.”
Mr Bullick went on to outline that around 6,000 applications were listed for consideration in front of a panel, and to date some 4,800 determinations had been made, with around 3,000 being found to be eligible, and 1,800 found ineligible.
“With the scheme due to close for applications in August this year, we have continued to work with our media partners to ensure that the messaging is pushed to as wide an audience as possible, particularly in wider Great Britain, the Republic of Ireland and further afield,” he said.
“An awareness campaign did take place in September 2025 to advertise the scheme across a wide range of stakeholders, political representatives and welfare groups throughout the UK, Republic of Ireland and further afield.”
He said: “It shouldn’t be underestimated the difference that this scheme has made to victims and their families. We know it has changed their lives for the better – those who have received a payment – and provided them with much-needed support and financial security.”
