Legislation for the Troubles pension scheme was made public before complete calculations of the costs had been made, according to Stormont Executive Office official, Mark Browne.

Speaking to members of Northern Ireland’s Assembly, Browne warned that the potential cost of the scheme could range from £600m to £1.2bn, while administration costs for the first five years would be around £40m.

He added that the costs depended on how many people applied and how many opted to take lump sum payments.

The UK government has stated that the responsibility for paying for the scheme lies with the devolved government in Northern Ireland, while Stormont ministers insist that they need more funding from Westminster.

On 9 February the Northern Irish Court of Appeal gave Stormont and Westminster four weeks to find a solution to the problem after having ruled that the former had a legal duty to fund a pension scheme for those who had suffered injuries during the Troubles.

Secretary of State, Brandon Lewis, told BBC Radio Ulster on Wednesday: “With a £15bn (Treasury) block grant from the year where they’ve had an underspend, that they can’t find the few million pound they need to find for what is a priority, what’s been a legal commitment, what has been there since 2014, for the Sinn Fein Department of Finance Minister to continue to delay this is untenable.

“How can he stand there and say with any kind of credibility that from a £15bn block grant approximately, that he is not prepared to make decisions to allocate a few million pounds to the victims’ payment scheme that they are committed to since 2014?”

Stormont Finance Minister, Conor Murphy, has maintained that the Northern Irish government does not have sufficient funds to cover the costs of the scheme and “dithering and delay”.

Murphy was quoted by The Belfast Telegraph as stating: “The Victims Payment Scheme was designed at Westminster and policy decisions were taken there. Funding for it also needs to come from there. The Executive’s budgets are already stretched and the pension could amount to costs of up to £1.2bn.”

In the meantime, Browne said his staff were continuing to calculate what the costs of the scheme will be and confirmed that dialogue with staff in London was continuing.

Back in November, the Northern Ireland Executive Office submitted a bid for financial resources from Westminster for the Troubles victims' pension scheme, emphasising that further financial certainty and discussion is needed from the UK government.

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