Asbestos compensation for women

Mesothelioma most often affects the lining of the lungs

Women who contracted mesothelioma from washing their husband's asbestos work clothes are to be entitled to compensation under a new Bill.

Social Development Minister Margaret Ritchie has introduced a mesothelioma compensation Bill to Stormont. It passed its second stage on Tuesday.

Between 40 and 50 people die annually from the disease in Northern Ireland.

Ms Richie said the bill was breaking new ground by extending payments to all sufferers.

"I will give early access to a lump sum payable within weeks of diagnosis," she said.

"This means sufferers will get compensation while they can still benefit from it during the final months of their lives."

Hundreds of former workers in shipyards and other heavy industries have died from asbestos related diseases.

Under the new Bill it will not be necessary to prove an occupational or causal link to access compensation.

This means that wives who contracted mesothelioma from washing their husband's asbestos work clothes or the children who played with these overalls are to benefit, as will people who lived near factories that used asbestos.

Malignant mesothelioma is a signal tumour of asbestos exposure and can follow exposure by 25 to 40 years.

The cancer which attacks the body's protective lining of most of the body's internal organs (mesothelium) reduces life expectancy to an average of nine months.