asked the Minister for Defence the number of widows of holders of service medals for the periods 1916 and 1917-21 who are in receipt of pensions from his Department; and the average amount received by them each week.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Service Medals.
39.
Presumably the Deputy has in mind the widows of military service pensioners. The number of such widows who are in receipt of allowances under the Army Pensions Act, 1971 is 4,401 and the average allowance payable is £132 a year.
When divided by 52, that is a very small amount.
40.
asked the Minister for Defence the number of holders of service medals for the periods 1916 and 1917-21 who are still alive according to his Department's records.
It is estimated that approximately 28,000 holders of the 1916 medal and the service (1917-1921) medal are still alive and of these some 500 have the 1916 medal. My Department have no records of the death of medal holders other than pensioners or holders of special allowances.