Australian manufacturer, James Hardie, has been in the limelight on a regular basis recently, unfortunately in connection with payouts on the millions of dollars worth of mesothelioma claims made against the company.

The company has now come forward to say that it will continue to fund claims made by those affected by its asbestos products.

The compensation fund set aide by James Hardie has been raising concerns recently, as it was expected to run dry within the space of a few years. However, James Hardie stated that it plans to continue funding claims by victims through a scheme that will be put forward to shareholders for approval.

The statement from James Hardie stated that the company was aware of the possibility that the number of claimants could exceed earlier estimates and that "any scheme will have to accommodate that possibility and that those additional claims would have to be funded."

Asbestos has been banned in Australia since the mid-1980s. However, prior to this it was widely used in a variety of building and construction products, giving Australia the dubious honour of having the highest mesothelioma death ratio in the world.

Around three thousand affected Australians have already staked their claims for the damage done by these products, and it is thought that thousands more will file for compensation over the next few decades.