asked the Minister for Finance whether he is aware that the late Constable E. Dunphy, D.M.P., when on duty at the General Post Office, on Easter Monday, 1916, was taken prisoner and held captive for a week, and was wounded whilst escaping; whether he is aware that, as a result, Dunphy contracted an illness, resulting in his discharge from the Police Force on 2nd April, 1917, and in his death on 10th October, 1919; whether an Act was passed in 1918 under which the widow would have become entitled to a pension of £26 0s. 0d. a year, had her husband served in the D.M.P. up to 1918; whether, in view of the circumstances resulting in Dunphy's discharge before 1918, steps will be taken to enable the widow and children to come under the 1918 Act.
WRITTEN ANSWERS. - DECEASED D.M.P. CONSTABLE'S DEPENDENTS.
I am not prepared to extend the provisions of the 1918 Act to cover cases not already within its scope (an extension which would require legislation), more especially in cases which arose during the British administration.