Vol. 66 No. 10
I move:
That the Defence Forces (Pensions) (Amendment) Scheme, 1969, prepared by the Minister for Defence with the consent of the Minister for Finance under Sections 2, 3 and 5 of the Defence Forces (Pensions) Act, 1932 and Section 4 of the Defence Forces (Pensions) (Amendment) Act, 1938, and laid before the House on the 25th day of February, 1969, be confirmed.
This scheme is designed to provide improved retirement benefit for a former member of the Survey Company, Corps of Engineers, and gratuities for other members who were discharged or transferred to the Reserve after the 1st August, 1940, for the purpose of taking up civilian employment in the Ordnance Survey.
In August, 1940, a number of longservice soldiers of the Survey Company, Corps of Engineers, were transferred to the Reserve for the purpose of taking up civilian appointments in the Ordnance Survey. They were recalled to Army service in 1941 and were subsequently re-transferred to the Reserve and later discharged from the Defence Forces. The Defence Forces (Pensions) (Amendment) Scheme, 1956, provided for the grant to each of them of a modified pension based on his fulltime Army service prior to the date on which his reckonable service under the Superannuation Acts commenced. The pension would be payable only when he retired in circumstances entitling him to an award under those Acts. In the case of four of them, each of whom had more than twenty-one years Army service, it would be more favourable to reckon twenty-one years service for Army pension purposes and the balance under the Superannuation Acts. It was decided, therefore, to alter the dates of commencement of their pensionable civilian service so that this could be done. As a result three of them have been paid pensions based on twenty-one years Army service, with effect from the dates of their discharge.
The fourth person was appointed to temporary commissioned rank in April, 1941 and before he can be granted a pension based on twenty-one years Army service, it is necessary to provide that his commissioned service may be reckoned as non-commissioned service. Article 5 of the present Scheme provides accordingly. There was a similar provision in the 1956 Scheme in relation to the modified pension then proposed for him.
A number of short-service soldiers of the Survey Company were also discharged or transferred to the Reserve and appointed to civilian posts in the Ordnance Survey. In the circumstances of the termination of their Army service gratuities were not payable to them under the Defence Forces (Pensions) Schemes. Article 6 of this scheme makes provision for the payment of gratuities to them.
As this scheme does not relate to increases in benefits arising from service pay increases or general increases in public service pensions it requires the formal approval of both Houses.
The Ordnance Survey occupies an anomalous position between civilian engineering practice and Army service. It is perhaps therefore inevitable in regard to the payment of gratuities and pensions that certain anomalies would arise. The House, I think, will have no hesitation in acceding to the Minister's request that the anomalies which are covered by the present amendment to the scheme should now be put right. However, I take this opportunity of asking the Minister if in fact this disposes of all anomalies which have arisen in regard to persons who have had joint service in the Ordnance Survey and in the Army.
I should like specifically to ask the Minister if there have been representations made to him in regard to persons not covered by the proposals he is now making to this House in connection with the anomalies which have arisen in this matter. Perhaps this may be going beyond the scope of what we have here, but I should like to ask him whether he is satisfied with the present status of the Ordnance Survey work and the manner in which it is related to the organisation of the Army.
Apart from these questions, I should like to take the occasion of this motion being before the House to pay tribute to the work of the Ordnance Survey. The Ordnance Survey has a proud record, one which goes back to the early 19th century. Indeed the work done by the Ordnance Survey in this country, under the Corps of Engineers, played an important part in the history of modern surveying. The base-line which was laid along the shores of Lough Foyle was the first high accuracy base-line ever attempted to be measured to the degree of accuracy with which we are concerned in modern surveying. Though they did this part of their work well, the Ordnance Survey did other work in respect of which we cannot be so indulgent. Many of our place-names today bear a spelling which represents a cockney sapper's interpretation of a Gaelic name, and I am sure each one of us can think of examples of this in his own area.
It is perhaps ironic that the present headquarters of the Ordnance Survey are located at Phoenix Park, which has nothing to do with that mythical bird but which was known originally as Páirc an Phíonn Uisce. The headquarters of the Ordnance Survey are situated in this particularly misnamed place in Dublin. I wish to pay high tribute to the small staff who are at present engaged in this work. As a Professor of Civil Engineering I am concerned with topographical surveying and as a member of the National Committee for Geodesy and Geophysics I am concerned with other survey measurements made by the Ordnance Survey. I have reason to know the extremely high standard of their work.
For example, in regard to the techniques of modern surveying and the new developments which are being made, in order to make these known to our students at UCC we invite officers of the Ordnance Survey to come to Cork to lecture to our students and to demonstrate the most modern instruments which are being used by them. We are grateful to the Ordnance Survey for this and we appreciate that in regard to topographical surveys and other types of survey they are indeed living up to the high traditions they have inherited and we in the engineering profession look to them as experts of a very high order in their particular field.
As I said, I think it would be a pity if the anomalies in the position of this small group of men—and I emphasise the word "small"—who do a job of such a high order were to militate in any way against the serving conditions, the rights of promotion or the pension rights of the individuals involved just because they are not completely part of the Army, or completely separated from it. Accordingly, I commend the Minister for what he is doing in the amended scheme which is now before us and I ask him, if there are further points on which representations have been received, to lend his generally sympathetic ear to them and to make it even more sympathetic on this occasion.
In reply to Senator Dooge, I wish to state that what he has said about the Ordnance Survey is, of course, commendable. The Senator knows what he is talking about in relation to the work that that office is performing and has performed over the years since it was founded. The office is within the administration of the Minister for Finance and I do not, therefore, propose to comment further on the work of the office itself.
The scheme which is now before the House was prepared with a view to remedying certain deficiencies. I have not received any personal representations in regard to this scheme and as far as I am aware there are no further anomalies which need to be rectified. In so far as the Department of Defence and myself are concerned, we are always prepared to consider a pension scheme that will be for the benefit of those small numbers of exmembers of the Forces who are involved. The scheme is designed to provide improved retirement benefit for a member of the Ordnance Survey and gratuities for other members and accordingly it is a measure which should be acceptable.
I do not think I have anything further to add except to commend the scheme as it stands to the House.
