When the discussion on this was adjourned I was putting a question to the Minister for Finance as to whether it was his intention, or if it was his desire, that a Commission, or Committee of the Dáil, might be set up to consider the present system under which the Old Age Pensions Act is administered. What I am not clear about is, if he were prepared to concede that a Committee ought to or might be set up, does he consider that a Committee can really discuss this present system, or suggest another, without taking into account the present administration? After all, it seems to me that the system under which the Act is at present administered and the administration itself are inseparable; I cannot see how one can be considered or discussed apart from the other. I cannot see how that Committee could hope to do anything at all without first taking into account the present administration, and in the light of the administration of the present system suggest a new system, if, as we know will be the case, the system is not found satisfactory—whether it is the administration or the system that the administration has sprung from. I am not clear on that, and I want to be. I do want to say this, that as regards the administration at present, down the country anyhow, it is regarded as being very far from satisfactory indeed. Since I came into the Dáil, and very recently, I have had very many complaints from pension committees in my county, and the feeling of some of these committees is that really they might as well not be in existence at all. I admit that from what I know they can do very little good. In a case where it is very obvious that the claimant is entitled to the pension they can pass it, and the pension is granted; but I believe it would be granted if the committee were not in existence at all, simply because there would be no arguments against it. But in a case where there is any question, no matter what the decision of the Committee may be, no matter what the local feeling may be as to the claimant being entitled to the pension, that does not seem to weigh with the administration. I am merely voicing a very general opinion when I say that the feeling is that the committee has absolutely no power, and very little attention is paid to their decisions at all.
I do not know where the fault lies. I have had experience of claims passed by the Committee, passed again by the Committee after they were appealed against, but the decisions of the Committee did not weigh with the administration. I know that in cases there may not be, from the point of view of the administration, sufficient evidence to go on, but the administration seems never to be satisfied to accept local decisions, founded on local knowledge. If the Minister is prepared to say that a Committee of the Dáil should be set up to consider the system, I think he might as well recognise that no good can come from the setting up of such a Committee unless the work of the present administration will be under review by it. Unless he is prepared to concede that, it seems to me that Deputy McKenna's motion will not have achieved the object for which it was put down.