asked the Minister for Defence whether he is aware that the late Referee of the pensions board in Ballina informed Mr. James Gallagher, Rosserk, Ballysokerry, Ballina, last year that he would specially recommend the award of a military service medal in his case; that verification of Mr. Gallagher's service in the I.R.A. has been completed; and, if so, what is the cause of the delay in awarding a medal to Mr. Gallagher.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Military Service: Medal Award.
There is no record that the late Referee informed the applicant that he would specially recommend the award of a Service (1917-1921) Medal in his case, and it appears no such recommendation was made.
The verification of the applicant's claim to continuous membership of Óglaigh na hÉireann during the period of three months ended on 11th July, 1921, has recently been completed and a medal has now been issued to him.
Is the Minister aware that I was present in the court in Ballina and heard the Referee of the pensions board make that statement?
In reply to the supplementary question—the Referee made no such recommendation. The Deputy has written in twice stating that this was so, but there is no record that any such recommendation was made and as far as I can ascertain the file does not bear any such endorsement. I might say that the difficulty about verification was that the only person in the area who was qualified to verify was dead and we got verification from other officers in the Mayo Brigade, but I am not too happy about them because they would not necessarily know the service of the applicant or whether he had full-time service during the period as claimed.
Is the Minister aware that over 20 years ago the North Mayo Brigade Committee verified the services of this applicant? I, as a member of the committee, am aware of that fact.
The Minister is aware that there is no such record available. The committee may have done that, but the file of the Referee of the board is a confidential document not at the disposal of the Minister.