I move:—
Go ndeontar suim ná raghaidh thar £1,705,300 chun slánuithe na suime is ga chun íoctha an Mhuirir a thiocfidh chun bheith iníoctha i rith na bliana dar críoch an 31adh lá de Mhárta, 1927, chun íoc Pinseana Sean-Aoise fé Achtanna na bPinsean Sean-Aoise, 1908 go 1924, chun Costaisí Riaracháin éirithe a bhaineann leo san agus chun Pinseana fén Blind Persons Act, 1920.
That a sum not exceeding £1,705,300 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, 1927, for the payment of Old Age Pensions under the Old Age Pensions Act, 1908 to 1924, for certain Administrative Expenses in connection therewith, and for Pensions under the Blind Persons Act, 1920.
This Vote is, practically speaking, for the actual cost of the pensions themselves and also for the fees and expenses of the clerks of local pensions committees. As I have already stated, the bulk of the administrative duties, including the printing of the old age pensions orders, the investigation of cases, the distribution of books, and so forth, falls on the Revenue Commissioners; payments are made by the Post Office, and appeals are dealt with by the Department of Local Government and Public Health. The peak point in regard to the number of old age pensions paid in the territory that is now the Saorstát was reached in 1912, when the number was 156,000. On the 31st March, 1926, the number was about 115,000. The reduction reflected in the Estimate this year is based on the calculation that the number of deaths of pensioners will be greater than the number of new pensioners. That, of course, follows the decline of population which took place all during the last century. The expenses of pension committees are slightly down. There are twenty-seven local pensions committees and 309 pensions sub-committees in the counties, and fifteen pensions committees and sixteen sub-committees in county boroughs and urban districts.
The Commission which dealt with the administration of the Old Age Pensions Acts, and which sat last year, presented a report containing a number of recommendations with regard to the administration of the Acts and of old age pensions generally. We have been considering the report of that Commission in conjunction with the Department of Local Government and Public Health, and we are almost at a stage when we can act on the recommendations. The great majority of them are of such a character that we have no difficulties at all in accepting them. The recommendation that it should be compulsory on the pensions officer to attend at the committee meetings is one about which we feel some difficulty in complying with, and we are still examining that. But in any case, if we do not make it absolutely compulsory on the pensions officer to attend, we are agreed that his actual presence at meetings is most desirable, and it certainly should be a general rule, if not a rule without exception. There were suggestions before the committee to make his attendance compulsory, but they did not weigh with the majority of the committee. We think, however, that they are of importance. That is one of the matters that has not yet been determined. In regard to most of the other recommendations, I think that with certain modifications we will be able to comply with them and, even if we do not accept that particular recommendation in the letter, I think we will, at any rate, modify the practice, following consideration of the recommendation.