I move:—
That the Defence Forces (Pensions) (Amendment) Scheme, 1953, prepared by the Minister for Defence, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, under the terms of the Defence Forces (Pensions) Acts, 1932 to 1949, and laid before the House on 28th July, 1953, be confirmed.
The Defence Forces (Pensions) schemes relate to the retired pay and pensions of members of the Permanent Force, the Chaplaincy Service and the Army Nursing Service, and to the pensions of the widows and children of officers. The main purpose of the present scheme is to increase the retired pay and pensions of members of the Permanent Force retired or discharged after the service pay increases of the 1st September, 1949 and the 15th January, 1951 came into operation. Officers and soldiers who, before leaving the Permanent Force, were eligible for the increased rates of pay are entitled to have the increases reflected to an appropriate extent in their retired pay and service pensions, and the scheme now before the House provides for that. There is, of course, a number of other provisions in the scheme. Some of these arise from the fact that the old system of regimental pay plus allowances such as lodging, fuel and light allowances and ration allowances came to an end as from the 1st April, 1950, and the officers now receive consolidated rates of pay which embody the former allowances. The provisionsto which I have referred are necessary, therefore, to bring the schemes into line with the new system. There are certain other provisions which are selfexplanatory or which are sufficiently explained in the memorandum which accompanied the scheme. I think, therefore, that I may confine my remarks to the increases proposed in retired pay and pensions following the September, 1949 and January, 1951 increases in service pay.
I shall deal first with Article 4 of the scheme which provides for increases in retired pay granted under Articles 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 9A and 10 of the principal scheme. Each of these articles of the principal scheme provides for the computation of retired pay by relation to the particular circumstances of an officer's case—the length of his service, whether he is retiring on age grounds or on medical grounds and so on. By Article 14 of the amending scheme of 1947, retired pay calculated in accordance with the articles I have mentioned was increased by 30 per cent. In the present Article 4, new percentages are being prescribed by which the original rates laid down in the principal scheme of 1937 are to be increased as a result of the pay increases of September, 1949, and January, 1951. Thus, officers eligible for these new increases on the original rates of retired pay will receive them in lieu of the 30 per cent. increase provided for in the 1947 scheme.
I may mention that married officers will benefit very substantially under this article. Hitherto, married officers and single officers of the same rank and service received the same rate of retired pay, married officers being eligible, in addition, for a gratuity. As a result of consolidation, married officers now receive higher rates of pay than single officers and, following upon this position, married officers to whom the present scheme applies will receive higher percentage increases on the original rates of retired pay than will single officers.
Article 5 provides for increases in the gratuities payable to married officers eligible for retired pay, thepercentage increases on the original rates being the same as those set out in Article 4. Hitherto, widower officers without children under the prescribed ages were treated in the same way as single officers and did not qualify for married officers' gratuities. All widower officers to whom the present scheme applies will, however, be treated as married officers for gratuity purposes.
Article 20 of the principal scheme provided for pensions for the widows and children of deceased officers. The original pensions for widows, which ranged from £45 a year in the case of the widow of a lieutenant to £100 a year in the case of a widow of a major-general or officer of higher rank, were increased by 50 per cent. in 1949. The pensions for children—£15 a year for a child whose mother is alive and £22 a year where the mother is dead—were not increased, and it is now proposed, by Article 14 of the present scheme, to increase these children's pensions also by 50 per cent.
The existing rates of pension for soldiers with 21 years' service range from 15/9 a week in the case of privates to 29/9 in the case of a sergeant-major. This pension may be increased by 1/- a week for each year of service exceeding 21 and up to 31. In the case of married men, an additional pension of 7/- a week is payable.
Following on the pay increases, it is proposed by Article 17 of this scheme to increase the service pensions, in the case of men discharged on or after the 1st September, 1949, and before the 15th January, 1951, by a flat 1/9 a week and the married pension from 7/- to 7/9 a week. In the case of soldiers discharged on or after the 15th January, 1951, further increases in the service pension, ranging from 2/- a week in the case of privates to 5/- a week in the case of sergeant-majors are proposed, and the married pension will be further increased from 7/9 a week to 8/9 a week.
Article 19 provides for increases in the short service gratuities payable to soldiers whose service does not qualify them for pension. The rates set out in Table I will apply to soldiers discharged on or after the 1st September,1949, and before the 15th January, 1951. Those set out in Table II will apply to soldiers discharged on or after the 15th January, 1951. For comparison purposes, I may mention that the rates shown in column (3) of Table I exceed the existing rates in each case by 5/- and that those in columns (4) and (5) exceed the existing ones by 10/- in each case.
I have already referred to the gratuities payable to married officers on retirement in addition to their retired pay. These are payable on the basis of an appropriate sum for each year of service according to retiring rank, up to a maximum of 20 years, and the appropriate sum at present prescribed for officers of the rank of major-general and upwards is £40 a year. That amount, is of course, increasable by the percentages set out in Article 5, Article 25 now prescribes specific appropriate sums for lieutenant-generals and generals retiring after this scheme comes into force. The appropriate sums of £80 and £90 a year take account of the percentage increases to which I referred.
I think I have now covered all the articles on which it is necessary for me to comment specifically. I should mention, however, that a further scheme will be necessary to increase retired pay and pensions for members of the permanent force who, before retirement or discharge, were eligible for the pay increases recently introduced with effect from the 1st April, 1953. I hope to have this scheme ready at the commencement of the next session.
The production of the scheme was unavoidably delayed owing to the work involved in the production of the Army Pensions Bill, and I am anxious that the former officers and men affected, who have already had to wait a long time for these increases, should not be deprived of them for a further four months while the Dáil might be in recess.