I move:
That a sum not exceeding £565,700 be granted to complete the sum necessary to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending the 31st day of March, 1950, for Wound and Disability Pensions, Further Pensions and Married Pensions, Allowances and Gratuities (No. 26 of 1923, No. 12 of 1927, No. 24 of 1932, No. 15 of 1937, No. 2 of 1941, No. 14 of 1943, and No. 3 of 1946); Military Service Pensions, Allowances and Gratuities (No. 48 of 1924, No. 26 of 1932, No. 43 of 1934, No. 33 of 1938, No. 5 of 1944, and Nos. 11 and 34 of 1945); Pensions, Allowances and Gratuities (No. 37 of 1936 and No. 9 of 1948); Payments in respect of Compensation for Members of the Local Defence Force (No. 19 of 1946), and for sundry Contributions and Expenses in respect thereof, etc.
This particular Estimate, governing the various Pensions Acts, allowances, etc., shows an increase of £39,290 on the Vote for last year. The sum of £848,550 may be distributed under the following general headings—pensions, allowances and gratuities come to £836,934; the cost of administration is £4,553, and incidentals come to £7,063. The £836,934, relating to pensions, allowances and gratuities, covers those actually under payment and those estimated to come in the course of payment during the financial year.
At the present moment we have under payment the following numbers —1,597 wound and disability pensions, costing £131,000 odd; 715 dependents' allowances, costing £20,000 odd; 13,716 military service pensions, costing £419,000; 1,270 Defence Forces pensions, costing £139,000; 34 Connaught Rangers' pensions, costing £1,047; 42 L.D.F. allowances, costing £1,865, and then there are 874 special allowances, costing £56,000. There are old awards amounting to £18,248.
In the course of the present year, as already indicated to Deputies in reply to questions from time to time, it is proposed to extend the date of applications for medals, to provide increased rates of pension in regard to disabilities arising from wounds, and to re-establish the Military Service Pensions Board to deal with appeals.