I move:—
Go ndeontar suim ná raghaidh thar £1,737,100 chun slánuithe na suime is gá chun íoctha an Mhuirir a thiocfidh chun bheith iníoctha i rith na bliana dar críoch an 31adh lá de Mhárta, 1926, chun íoc Pinseana Sean-Aoise fé Achtanna na bPinsean Sean-Aoise, 1908 go 1924, chun Costaisí Riaracháin áirithe a bhaineann leo san, agus chun Pinseana fén Blind Persons Act, 1920. |
7.—That a sum not exceeding £1,737,100 be granted to complete the sum necessary to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1926, for the payment of Old Age Pensions under the Old Age Pensions Acts, 1908 to 1924, for certain Administrative Expenses in connection therewith, and for Pensions under the Blind Persons Act, 1920. |
As Deputies will see from the Estimates, the great bulk of this sum is actually for the payment of old age pensions. Even apart from the reduction in the number of old age pensioners which followed the 1924 Act, there has been for a considerable time an annual or a very steady decrease in the number in the area that is now the Saorstát. I think that with one or two amending Acts there had been at times a slight increase, but the measure of the decrease may be taken in this way: In 1912, when the peak point was reached, the number of old age pensioners in the area that is now the Saorstát, was 156,000. This figure has steadily decreased to the point that on the 31st March last it was 115,817. It might be of interest to Deputies if I gave some indication of the numbers of pensions at the various rates. On the 31st March last the number of pensioners paid at the 10s. rate, that is, people who were over 80 years of age when the 1924 Act was passed, was 29,693. The number at the 9s. rate, the new full rate, was 59,609. The number at the 8s. rate was 7,759, at the 7s. rate 4,062, at the 6s. rate 6,899, at the 5s. rate 1,927, at the 4s. rate 2,250, at the 3s. rate 1,660, at the 2s. rate 1,323, and at the 1s. rate 635.
There is a remarkable difference between the proportion of old age pensioners in various counties. Of course, that is very natural, because conditions vary considerably. If we take the old age pensioners alone and leave out the pensioners under the Blind Persons Act, we find that the numbers per thousand of the total population vary from 21.01 in Waterford Borough up to 57.55 in County Leitrim. In the same way the charge to the State, if calculated as the amount of rate on the rateable valuation of the various counties, varies very considerably. In County Meath the amount paid for old age pensions is equivalent to 1s. 9d. on the rates of that county; in County Mayo it is equivalent to 14s.; in Leitrim, 11s. 2d.; in County Kerry, 10s.; in County Donegal, 12s.; in Westmeath, 2s. 5d.; in Wicklow, 3s. 1d.; in Wexford, 3s. 9d.; in Limerick County, 3s. 5d.; in Leix, 3s. 5d.; in Kildare, 2s. 5d.; in Kilkenny, 3s.; in Dublin Borough, 2s. 4d.; in Dublin County, 1s. 8d. The expenses of the pension committees have not varied since last year, and it is not anticipated that there will be any variations. The appropriations-in-aid are due to repayments by pensioners of amounts wrongly paid. That would occur, for instance, in cases of fraud or misrepresentation when discovered.