From 1 April 2026, Northern Ireland will lift lump‑sum payments under its workers’ compensation scheme for dust‑related diseases by 3.8 per cent, subject to a final Stormont vote. The Department for Communities signed the rule on 23 February, with commencement set for 1 April or the day after Assembly affirmation if that happens later, according to legislation published on legislation.gov.uk.

The Statutory Rule updates the headline figures families look for. Where death results from diffuse mesothelioma, and for the minimum payable to a dependant, the award rises from £4,092 to £4,248. The higher payment where pneumoconiosis is accompanied by tuberculosis increases from £8,466 to £8,788. Every line of the scheme’s payment tables has been uprated and rounded to the nearest pound.

The Department’s explanatory note spells it out plainly: every amount is increased by 3.8 per cent. Just as importantly, the new rates apply only where a person first satisfies the entitlement conditions on or after the commencement date; earlier cases continue on last year’s figures. For advisers and families, timing around medical assessments and paperwork will matter this spring.

Set up by the Pneumoconiosis, etc., (Workers’ Compensation) (Northern Ireland) Order 1979, the scheme pays a one‑off lump sum to people with diseases such as pneumoconiosis, asbestosis, silicosis and diffuse pleural thickening when they cannot pursue damages from an employer-often because the firm has long since closed-or to their dependants if the person has died before claiming.

For ex‑industrial communities, this is more than a legal tweak. The heaviest exposures were in shipbuilding, engineering, quarries and power stations-work that built Belfast and much of the North of England. Mesothelioma and other dust diseases tend to surface decades after exposure, which is why these payments still matter to families juggling grief, benefits forms and medical evidence.

Officials and safety bodies say the burden remains significant. HSENI has estimated the annual societal cost of work‑related ill‑health in Northern Ireland at over £390 million, with lung disease among the major contributors-sobering context for a scheme that still sees new claims every year (HSENI update, 6 November 2025).

Policy has been edging wider too. In 2024, Stormont aligned disease definitions with Industrial Injuries legislation, adding unilateral diffuse pleural thickening and asbestos‑related primary carcinoma of the lung, so that more people meeting the criteria can access the 1979 scheme (Department for Communities screening note, April 2024).

There is also a Great Britain track in parallel. At Westminster, the UK Government has laid its 2026 regulations for the England‑Scotland‑Wales scheme, due to take effect on 1 April, keeping the national timetable in step (UK Parliament Statutory Instruments database, 15 January 2026).

For anyone weighing up a claim, the practical route usually runs via an Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit assessment for a prescribed disease. While IIDB is typically payable from a 14 per cent disablement assessment, ministers have previously confirmed that lower assessments do not automatically bar a lump‑sum under the 1979 schemes-so it’s worth getting advice early rather than self‑excluding (Commons committee discussion, 12 February 2025).

Bottom line for Northern families with links across the Irish Sea: from April, new entitlements under Northern Ireland’s dust‑disease scheme will be worth 3.8 per cent more, with a £4,248 floor for bereavement claims and £8,788 for the TB‑related higher award. We’ll report the full tables once the Assembly has signed them off.