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Duty of the Minister in respect of applications to him.
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5.—(1) The Minister within twelve months after receiving an application for compensation under this Act duly made to him shall consider such application and either, as he shall think proper,—
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(a) make to the applicant an offer in writing of a specified sum of compensation under this Act in respect of the injury to which the application relates, or
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(b) inform the applicant in writing that he does not intend to make to the applicant any such offer.
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(2) The following provisions shall apply and have effect in relation to every offer of a specified sum of compensation under this Act made by the Minister under the foregoing sub-section of this section that is to say:—
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(a) the Minister may, when making the offer, attach thereto such (if any) conditions as he thinks proper in relation to the expenditure of the compensation thereby offered;
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(b) the applicant shall be at liberty, in the case of an unconditional offer, to accept or to refuse the offer or, in the case of an offer to which conditions are attached, to accept the offer with and subject to those conditions or to refuse the offer;
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(c) if the applicant does not in writing accept or refuse the offer within six months after it is made to him, he shall be deemed to have accepted the offer and, if conditions were attached to the offer, to have accepted it with and subject to those conditions;
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(d) if the applicant accepts the offer or is deemed, by virtue of the next preceding paragraph of this sub-section to have accepted it, the Minister shall pay to the applicant, subject to his compliance with such conditions (if any) as were attached to the offer, the specified sum of compensation under this Act which was offered by the offer;
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(e) where the applicant accepts or is deemed as aforesaid to have accepted the offer, he shall be estopped from making any further claim or application for compensation under this Act in respect of the injury to which the application leading to the offer related.
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(3) Any specified sum of compensation under this Act offered by the Minister under this section may, if the Minister so thinks fit, include a sum in respect of the costs incurred by the applicant in respect of the application to the Minister.
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(4) References in this Act to compensation awarded by the Minister shall be construed as referring to compensation payable by the Minister in pursuance of an offer made by him under this section and accepted or deemed to have been accepted by the applicant to whom it was made.
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