asked the Minister for Defence whether he received from Mr. Seán Healy, Box 3153, San Francisco, California (formerly 172 6th Street, San Francisco) in August, 1935, a claim for a military pension; whether the claim has been considered and an award made, or if not, when a decision in the matter will be reached.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Military Service Pensions
An application for a Service Certificate under the Military Service Pensions Act, 1934, has been received from Mr. Seán Healy, Box 3153, San Francisco, California. A communication regarding his claim was addressed to this applicant in September last and a reply has not yet been received. Until a reply is received, no further action can be taken on the application.
asked the Minister for Defence if he will state in respect of each Brigade area (a) the number of claimants under the Military Service Pensions Act, 1934, who have been called for interview, and (b) the number of pensions awarded.
The Record in my Department are not compiled in such a way as to enable the details required in respect of each brigade area to be furnished without the expenditure of time and energy on the part of officials dealing with pension claims, which I do not think would be justified in present circumstances. The total numbers in respect of all brigades are as follows:—
|
(a) total number of claimants called for interview |
10,210 |
|
(b) total number of pensions awarded |
4,735 |
I understood that brigade councils were being asked to submit reports on applicants who were able to show prima facie entitlement to pensions. Surely it ought to be possible for the Army Registration Board to compile, without any great expenditure of either time or money, a record of the number of applications submitted from brigade areas in that way.
I asked the officials in charge if they could answer the questions without a terrific amount of difficulty and they told me that they could not. In view of the pressure being brought upon the board to complete the examination of applications, I did not feel justified in ordering them to go ahead and answer the question in detail. The facts which were conveniently available I have given to the Deputy—the total figures for brigade areas.
I do not want the Minister to ask the Registration Board to devote a lot of time to the compilation of these statistics, but I imagine that they are not as difficult to obtain as the Minister suggests.
It would be very difficult to obtain them.
Could not the Minister give some picture of the sources from which the claims have been received and the manner in which decisions are being given in relation to the sources from which the claims have been received? There is considerable dissatisfaction, as the Minister may know, because it has been expressed in the Press, because it is felt that applicants from certain areas are getting preference over applicants from other areas. I want to get some information on that matter so that I may be able to judge whether or not statements of that kind are correct. I think that it is in the public interest that information of that kind should be published by the Minister's Department.
I can assure the Deputy that that allegation is not correct, but if I were to refute it in the particular way which the Deputy desires, it would hold up the whole work of the Department. I have only a certain number of officials to deal with these claims. The Deputy and other Deputies are pressing that the work should be completed, but if I am to put officials on to the getting of this detailed information it will hold up the work further.
I do not know how the Minister can say the allegations in the Press are groundless unless he can produce the information asked for in this question. I want the information to see if there is any justification for these allegations. In the interest of the fair administration of the Act, I think it would be worth while for the Minister to obtain this information so as to set these fears at rest.
I have sufficient knowledge of the working of the Act to know that that is not the case.
It is not the Minister who is concerned; it is the public.
Can the Deputy name any brigade area which is satisfied?
That is no compliment to the Minister. It is over here you should be.