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<p>The Government is sympathetic to the care needs of UK Thalidomide survivors, who
continue to benefit from the £80 million grant, to be paid over 10 years, which was
announced by the Department of Health in 2012.</p><p>The FCO has helped the Thalidomide
Trust to make its own representations to the German Government regarding the possibility
of payments for UK Thalidomide survivors. I met representatives of the Trust to discuss
this on several occasions. I raised the issue with my German counterpart Michael Roth
on 9 July and with the German Ambassador on 23 July, to whom I handed a letter from
Simon Hoare MP to Chancellor Merkel on behalf of the House of Commons All Party Thalidomide
Group. In response to these representations, the German government has confirmed that
UK Thalidomide victims are eligible to apply for compensation from the Contergan Foundation.</p><p>I
hope to continue discussions with the German government on how it might be made easier
for UK survivors to apply for these funds when I visit Berlin later this month.</p>
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