asked the Minister for Defence if he will state if Timothy Moriarty, Inchintray, Caherciveen, Co. Kerry, is the man described as Timothy Moriarty, Kerry, in the list of Army pensioners supplied by his Department; and, if so, what is the amount of pension he is in receipt of, and what were the periods of service rendered by this man to entitle him to such pension.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Army Pensions.
The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. Mr. Moriarty is in receipt of a pension of £20 10s. 2d. per annum. The Board of Assessors constituted under the Military Service Pensions Act, 1924, reported to me that Timothy Moriarty rendered service as required by sub-section (4) of Section 2 of the Act in the periods from the 1st April, 1921, to the 30th June, 1922, and from the 1st November, 1922, to the 30th September, 1923.
asked the Minister for Defence if he is aware that Patrick McGrath, McCurtain Street, Fermoy, Co. Cork, who was sentenced to five years' penal servitude in connection with the Connaught Rangers mutiny in India, and who joined the National Army in 1923, was discharged in 1924 as medically unfit, that he again joined the National Army and served until July, 1928, when he was discharged with a very good character; that he applied for an Army pension, and whether the Minister will now state what pension McGrath is entitled to.
I am aware of the facts as stated in the first part of the question. There is no record in my Department of the receipt of an application from Mr. McGrath for a pension.
Is the Minister aware that this man, because he took part in the mutiny, was deprived of his pension? I wish to inform the Minister that at the present time this man has a wife and six children to support, and were it not for the fact that he received assistance from the St. Vincent de Paul Society, he and his family would be starving during the winter months. I think it is a crying scandal that a man who has made such sacrifices as this should be allowed to remain in poverty. I hope the Minister will not turn a deaf ear to the appeal I am making on behalf of this man.
I am completely circumscribed, of course, by the terms of the Act.