asked the Minister for Defence whether he is aware that in the past two years grave hardship has been imposed on a large number of members of the Old I.R.A. because of the fact that their special allowances have been either stopped or substantially reduced, and, if so, if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - I.R.A. Special Allowances.
For a proper understanding of the position regarding the stoppage or reduction of special allowances, it is necessary to refer to the main statutory provisions regulating these allowances.
A special allowance may be granted to any qualified person in whose case the Minister for Defence and the Minister for Finance are satisfied that the statutory conditions are compiled with.
Qualified persons are those persons specified in Section 41 (3) of the Army Pensions Act, 1953. The statutory conditions to be complied with are: (a) that the person's yearly means do not equal or exceed the appropriate annual sum, and (b) that he is incapable of self-support by reason of age or permanent infirmity of body or mind.
The appropriate annual sum is specified in Section 41 (4) of the Army Pensions Act, 1953. Broadly speaking, it varies according as to whether a person is under or over 70 years of age and according as to whether he is married or single and, if married, whether he has children under 18 years of age.
A special allowance is an annual sum of such amount as will, when added to the person's yearly means, not equal or exceed the appropriate annual sum. In effect this means that the allowance represents the difference between the person's annual means and the appropriate annual sum. A special allowance can be granted only for a year at a time, and the means are subject to annual review or may be reviewed at my discretion either of my own volition or at the request of the person to whom an allowance was granted.
Means are assessed in accordance with the joint directions of the Minister for Defence and the Minister for Finance made under Section 7 of the Army Pensions Act, 1943.
It follows from the foregoing that payment of special allowance must be terminated in any case where it is found that the recipient's means equal or exceed the appropriate annual sum applicable in his case. This may come about for either of two reasons or a combination of both; there may be a reduction in the appropriate annual sum as happens, for example, when the recipient of a special allowance reaches the age of 70, or the means may have improved to such an extent as to exceed the appropriate annual sum. Precisely the same factors operate to reduce allowances.
These stoppages and reductions flow directly from the statutory conditions governing special allowances and are unavoidable. Having regard to the specific purpose which special allowances were designed to serve, I do not see that these occurrences should cause hardship and, if there is an impression of hardship, it is only because the fundamental considerations are being lost sight of.
The special allowances of certain persons who qualified by reason of their having been awarded the Service (1917-1921) Medal without Bar have also been stopped. Their entitlement to the medal was questioned and, on reinvestigation, the former officers of the battalions concerned were not prepared to vouch for their membership of the appropriate organisations continuously for the period of three months ended on the 11th July, 1921. I have referred to this situation previously in the House and all I propose to say now is that proposals are under consideration for the review of all medal awards.
I may add that over the past two years, 2,804 awards of special allowance remained unaltered; 794 were increased; 1,182 were reduced, and 308 were suspended. Of the awards suspended, 202 have since been restored and are at present on pay. The remainder of the suspensions are concerned with entitlement to the medal or with investigation of means.
Since 1946 there have been only 260 cases where special allowances were terminated on account of means being in excess of the appropriate annual sum.