Stormont £119m sum for data breach payouts not yet finalised

The Department of Justice has suggested that a tentative agreement to ringfence money to settle cases brought by police officers over a major data breach in 2023 is not yet finalised.

It comes after Justice Minister Naomi Long told the BBC that the Stormont Executive had already agreed to set aside £119m for the issue.

However it is understood that while the Department of Finance has recommended that the executive approve the costs, a final decision has not yet been taken.

It is expected to form part of ongoing discussions between ministers about agreeing a budget for 2026/27 - and the chair of the Police Federation has said Long should apologise if she was mistaken.

Liam Kelly said the lack of clarity was "demoralising" for officers and "simply unacceptable".

"I am struggling to comprehend why the minister overstated her position so definitively this morning," he told Evening Extra.

"She stated it was agreed, that funding was ringfenced, and negotiations with the chief constable could now commence to settle cases.

"And none of this seems to be correct."

The breach involved the accidental release of some personal details of all 9,400 officers and staff.

In October, the Treasury rejected a second request from the executive to help with the cost of paying hundreds of millions of pounds in compensation.

However, on Wednesday, Long said: "What the executive has agreed is that failing a change of heart from Treasury it will ringfence money against that settlement."

"That now empowers the chief constable to settle those cases that are willing to be settled," she added.

"There's been negotiations ongoing about what the size of those offers should be, and those negotiations have been going on with the legal representatives of those affected."

Six test cases for damages are currently being heard at the High Court.

The justice minister told The Nolan Show that the executive had agreed to set aside "around £119m" to compensate officers.

"If the settlement is lower than that, that will be taken into account," Long said.

"If it's higher than that, I'll have to go back to the executive."

The PSNI has already accepted liability for the data breach, which occurred in August 2023, and talks over the settlement have been taking place for more than a year.

The data breach occurred when the PSNI accidentally released details of its workforce in response to a Freedom of Information request.

The details were published on a website and later obtained by dissident republicans.

Details of what could be offered to individuals have not been made public.

But a previously published PSNI estimate put the bill at more than £100m.

Long said that the executive would "continue to push" the Treasury to change its mind on helping to pay the compensation.

She added that officers taking cases would have to decide whether to take settlements or continue through the court system.

But she said the chief constable "will now be in a position to be able to enter into settlement, final settlement of these.

"We knew, and I said on your programme, that this takes time because it is a legal process. And so there will be, it will take time.

"It's likely that money will actually be paid out in the next financial year."

PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said it was "disappointing to learn that the funding has not yet been agreed by the Executive" which, he said would be a "further blow" to officers and staff.

"We appreciate the Minister's continued efforts to secure agreement from the Executive and we remain determined that a positive resolution can still be achieved."

The chief constable added that he will "continue to lobby for this funding for our officers and staff".