Ministry of Defence pays out £1.2m to settle just 29 Troubles claims

In a written parliamentary answer, an MoD minister has also revealed that the taxpayer has paid out an additional £600,000 in legal costs for those suing the military over deaths and injuries in the conflict.

Baroness Goldie, a minister at the MoD, has confirmed that there are currently 575 claims against the ministry relating to the Troubles which are active before the court.

So far 43 claims have been concluded in the last three-year period of which 29 claims resulted in a financial settlement by the MoD, the minister said.

In her answer Baroness Goldie confirmed that the MoD has so far paid out £632,000 in damages.

The total plaintiffs’ legal costs paid out were £586,861 while the MoD’s own legal costs were £212,042, she said.

She added that the other 14 claims concluded in the three-year period were discontinued or resolved by other means.

The minister was replying to a question from Baroness Hoey who said she was “surprised at the frankness of the MoD”.

Baroness Honey said the figures provided further evidence in her mind of an imbalance between the focus on state killings rather than paramilitary violence during the Troubles.

“It certainly is and is an example of how the government has let itself be judged on events 50 years ago using the human rights and legal standards of the following century. The 1920s will come under scrutiny next,” she said.

The independent pro-Union peer continued: “There is always the fear that government legal advisors will say it is cheaper to settle than fight a case in court, which of course just encourages greater lawfare.

“The payouts to claimants are almost equal to the fees paid out to legal firms and if including government costs are even greater. That tells the story as to who benefits most.”