There is very little I want to add to what has been said and to what I have already said in support of this motion. That section of our community which has to rely on military service pensions is a section to whch the State owes a great deal. It is a section which has not had in recent years the measure of recognition it ought to have had from the authorities. We recognise these people as requiring a measure of assistance but we have closed our eyes to the fact that the assistance given in the past has been consistently minimised and reduced by the rising cost of living. It is worthy of note that in the last few days it has become apparent that, under the present Administration, the cost of living has risen by four points in the past twelve months. If we take 1957 as an example, the impact of the consistently rising cost of living, due to Government policy, has reduced the real value of pensions and has increased the burden which people in receipt of such assistance have to bear.
Deputy Tierney's motion pinpoints a very real grievance suffered by a needy section of the community, a section to which both the House and the State owe a duty. It is only reasonable now that the Government should be asked to introduce forthwith amending legislation to ensure to these people a reasonable standard of living. I suggest the proper course would be to tie the measure of assistance thought appropriate to the changes in money values brought about by the cost of living. If an increase of £1 or 30/- is thought desirable now it should be tied to the present cost of living so that, if the cost of living continues to rise, as presumably it will until the present Government is put out of office, pensions will be adjusted pro rata. If, of course, there should be a fall in the cost of living, pensions will have to suffer an adjustment accordingly. In these terms, I support the motion proposed by Deputy Tierney.
