A significant number of the victims of the Benefits Affair do not receive proper help. As a result, full recovery of all parents may take fifteen to twenty years. The recovery operation also does not meet the rule of law standards. The ’emergency advisory committee for recovery operation allowances’ reported this on Thursday a report. The committee, led by former CDA MP Chris van Dam, believes firm action is necessary.
According to the committee, there are several bottlenecks. First of all, the government should not promise that the damage done can be completely repaired. The committee advises the state to listen and acknowledge the problem, compensate the damage and provide support.
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The government promised more speed “time and time again” and came up with new initiatives, but this was at the expense of the quality and feasibility of the recovery operation, according to the committee. The files are not in order, which has hampered the objection procedures. “We see that the parties involved play their own game too much. No one has the complete overview. There is no coach who stands above the parties […].”
That is why the committee recommends, among other things, that the recovery operation be arranged via the private Stichting (Equal) Worthy Recovery according to the ‘Laurentien method’. This method means less bureaucracy, conversations based on trust that conclude with a settlement with the help of personal injury experts and a final amount for the victim. Victims who do not want to work with the foundation can be assisted by a lawyer and provide substantiation for the damage suffered themselves.
DNA
The Ministry of Finance and the Foundation for Equal Reparation are currently arguing about the implementation of the recovery operation. The government must account for every euro paid out, but those involved in the Laurentien method oppose government control of compensation. Officials also anonymously accused Princess Laurentien of inappropriate behavior.
The committee states that generosity is not in the DNA of the government organizations involved. “Parents have to deal with
a government that keeps asking them for receipts and them
doesn’t seem to trust.” For example, officials are said to be afraid of overcompensating victims and government employees are not always able to make promises, to the frustration of the victims.