RUC veterans suspected of ‘being on gravy train’, says Alex Maskey

Alex Maskey and anti-internment marchers up against the RUC and British Army on the Falls, 1986

THE BILL for the Patten redundancy scheme is close to £500million for ex-RUC officers who are suspected by many in the nationalist community of being "little more than a gravy train when it comes to claiming money from the public purse", Sinn Féin has said.

Spokesperson on Policing Alex Maskey said:

I think that the vast amount of money that has been paid in severance was never necessary whenever you are talking about some individuals going away with half a million pounds.

Families who lost anybody in the conflict would not have remotely thought about getting that type of money."

Alex added:

There is a widely held perception within the nationalist community that many former members of the RUC are on little more than a gravy train when it comes to claiming money from the public purse.

It must be remembered that when these individuals were involved in the RUC they were paid excessive salaries and bonuses and then the severance package granted to them by the British Government was far too generous.

Since then, many who have taken this package have subsequently sought to extract further public money through hearing loss and other legal claims. This is completely unacceptable, particularly when contrasted with the treatment received by many victims of the RUC.

The Sinn Féin MLA reminded the Establishment that Patten was about more than police numbers.

It was about creating an accountable and representative policing service.

Human rights abusers had to be weeded out but, in our view, the amount of money handed to these individuals has been exorbitant and unnecessary.