I move: "That the Seanad hereby approves of the Gárda Síochána Pensions Order, 1930, made on the 30th day of June, 1930, by the Minister for Justice, with the sanction of the Minister for Finance, under Section 13 of the Police Forces Amalgamation Act, 1925, and laid before the Seanad on the 19th day of November, 1930."
This Order is very simple and uncontroversial. I think its meaning would be apparent to anyone who read it. But as I have seen from the official report of the debate that took place in the Seanad last week, that some explanation has been asked for, I will say a word or two with regard to the points that the Order deals with. The main object of the Order is to make provision for the cases of a few members of the force who resigned or were dismissed from the Dublin Metropolitan Police, solely because of their national sympathies, and who subsequently joined the Gárda Síochána. It is proposed to treat these cases as regards the reckoning of previous service for pensions in the same manner as the men who were reinstated in the Dublin Metropolitan Police, and whose cases were governed by Section 3 of the Superannuation and Pensions Act of 1923. The Order also includes a provision removing certain ambiguities in the definition in the existing Orders of the term "annual pay" in its application to certain types of cases. This will involve no change in existing practice. A further provision is included for dealing with the case of a pensioner who is unable by reason of mental disability to manage his affairs.
