I want to bring a certain matter to the notice of the Minister which, I think, arises appropriately on this Vote. One of my constituents was employed as an engineer on an Irish boat which met with disaster, as the result of which he sought refuge on an English boat. While he was on the English boat, it was machine-gunned by a German plane, and my constituent met his death. He had been contributing for some years to the upkeep and support of his widowed mother, who resided in the town of Wexford. At the time of this incident, there was no scheme in operation under which any compensation became payable to the widowed mother. I, as well as a solicitor, on behalf of the widowed mother, took the matter up with the appropriate Government Department.
A scheme for compensation was then coming into being, but had not in fact been perfected, and in the circumstances the legal advisers of the mother deemed it prudent—it was the only possible relief in the circumstances— to bring a claim for workmen's compensation in the court, on the basis that the person upon whom the applicant was dependent had lost his life during and in the course of his occupation as an engineer employed on an Irish boat. The case came before the court, but was withdrawn, because, in the meantime, a scheme based on the English scheme had been evolved, to which this Supplementary Estimate has particular reference, under which compensation is granted in circumstances such as these.
Under these circumstances, when the case came into court it was withdrawn, and the Circuit Court judge dealing with the matter made an award in which, although asked for costs by the respondents, he refused an order for costs. The respondents, although appearing in the name of a very well-known shipping firm, against whom I have no complaint, were in fact the Irish Shipping Federation, which is an organisation employed on these occasions to safeguard the interest of various contributing members, such as this particular Wexford shipping firm. It is to be noted that the Circuit Court judge, having been asked by the Irish Shipping Federation for an order for costs against this widow, made an order refusing costs. Subsequently, when the scheme came into operation, an award was made under which the widow received a small pension. That pension was paid for a certain period —I think a year. But, during the course of the current year, for some reason or other, the pension came up for review, and not only was the pension reduced, but it was stopped for a certain period during which the appropriate payments were held back and put together in a lump sum in order to recoup the shipping firm who had appeared in this particular matter for the costs incurred by them and which they had been refused by the appropriate court.
I have already raised this matter with the Department and, while I received the usual courteous acknowledgment that the matter was being further looked into, a decision was taken to stop some of these payments against these costs. I also placed the matter before the Department on the basis that an appropriate judicial officer had determined the question as to whether costs should be paid or not. I submit that under these circumstances the Minister should treat this widow, the mother of a citizen who lost his life at sea on the country's business, at least with consideration. It is a very strange thing that that amount should be stopped which, I understand, will be handed to the Shipping Federation. Under normal circumstances, one would have imagined that the humblest employer in this land who had an employee who met with an accident such as this and found himself up against certain legal difficulties would have liked to give some slight recompense to the persons dependent on the particular person who met with the injury. But to take advantage of every loophole to escape from the liability and to seek to sequester portion of the award made in favour of the widow in payment of the costs incurred, I think is not a very meritorious performance on the part of the Shipping Federation. I would ask the Minister and his Department not to be a party to a procedure of that kind.
There is a further matter of public interest in connection with that. A large number of our ships that are sailing the seas through danger at present are manned by people from the town of Wexford. Many of the relatives of this man who lost his life are engaged in this hazardous form of employment. This particular case has created a very bad atmosphere not only in Wexford, but all along the coast and in other places where Irish sailors come from. I cannot see upon what grounds the Department stopped this money in order to recoup the Shipping Federation for costs. I feel certain that the Minister, if the matter has not been brought personally to his attention, will look into the matter. The amount involved is something like £10. That may not sound very much, but it means a great deal to this woman who lost her son. There is also a question of principle involved.
