asked the Minister for Local Government whether he is aware that Mr. John Callan, of Lattylanigan, Carrickmacross, has been refused a pension under Part III of the Local Government Superannuation Act, 1948, due to his having ceased employment with the county council prior to 1st September, 1949, that this man has been certified as unfit for work from 6th May, 1949, owing to rheumatism and if he will have the facts of this case favourably reinvestigated in view of the fact that the disease causing incapacity was probably contracted in the course of his long and faithful service to the county council.
- Pension Claim.
I have ascertained from the Monaghan County Council that Mr. Callan was not in their employment when Part III of the Local Government (Superannuation) Act, 1948, came into operation in that county on 1st September, 1949, and that, consequently, he is not eligible for a superannuation allowance under the Act.
Is the Minister aware that this man gave 31 years' service to the county council, and that it was not his fault that he was not retired at an age which would bring him under the Act? Will the Minister agree that this is hardly fair treatment for a man with such service, especially seeing that he ceased employment with the county council due to rheumatism? Would the Minister consider making the date retrospective? The man ceased his employment with the county council not through any fault of his own but through illness.
The information that I have received in connection with the matter is that Mr. Callan was born in March, 1893, and was, therefore, 56 years of age on the 1st September, 1949, when Part III of the Local Government (Superannuation) Act, 1948, was adopted by Monaghan County Council. He ceased, owing to ill-health, to be employed by the county council on the 6th May, 1949. On the 4th April, 1950, he applied to have his name entered on the register of established servants, but this application was refused because he had, in fact, ceased to be a servant of the council when Part III came into operation. It appears that apart from that, his application was, in any event, late, as the six months from the date Part III came into operation, within which applications could be made, expired on the 1st March, 1950. He is stated to have had about 30 years' service before his employment with the county council ceased. That is all the information I have.