The UK Government claims that its target of making full and final compensation offers to 15,000 former miners suffering from lung disease will be met by Christmas.

Wales Office Minister Don Touhig, who chairs the Welsh group set up to monitor progress on the compensation claims, said progress has been made during 2002 towards settling the issue.

I am delighted that we are facing up to the scale of the task in hand Don Touhig MP

But critics claim the target has only been met by encouraging staff to supply a stream of offers ahead of tackling the queries needed to settle each claim.

Next month sees the fifth anniversary of the miners' union, Nacods, winning the historic court case which agreed that compensation should be paid to men who became ill after working underground.

General secretary Bleddyn Hancock welcomed the announcement about the Christmas target but said had created a "logjam" in the compensation system.

Mr Hancock said the result is that some people have had queries outstanding since June, and very few people had actually seen their money.

Group chair Don Touhig MP

Figures to the end of October showed that of 40,000 Welsh claimants, only 9,000 have been paid.

The Welsh Coal Health Claims Monitoring Group, which Mr Touhig chairs, includes representatives from the Wales Office, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of Work and Pensions, the Welsh Assembly, IRISC, Welsh solicitors and the mining unions.

He said the achievement of the claims target showed the government's commitment to settling the compensation issue for miners in Wales.

"This figure is not a goal which would be easily achieved but an ambitious target requiring immense practical effort," he said.

'Momentum'

"This is the largest compensation claim of its kind ever and I am delighted that we are facing up to the scale of the task in hand.

"I would like to pay tribute to everyone, especially our claims handlers IRISC, whose hard work has made this possible.

"I must emphasise again that we are not complacent and that the Secretary of State for Wales, Peter Hain, and I are determined to maintain the momentum until we get justice for our miners, their widows and their families."

It was announced in September that the total amount of compensation for respiratory disease and Vibration White Finger (VWF) had topped �1bn across the UK, including �200m for Welsh claimants.

Many miners developed VWF as a result of operating or driving vibrating heavy machinery.

Deadline

In October, UK Energy Minister Brian Wilson announced that families of dead miners who suffered from vibration white finger would be given extra time to claim compensation.

He extended the deadline until 31 January, 2003.

An office of IRISC, a network of companies concentrating on specific areas of business including claims management, was opened in Cardiff, by the then Welsh Secretary, Paul Murphy, in July 2001.