Sa cháinfhaisnéis i mí Feabhra seo chaite, fógraíodh liúntas nua, sé sin, liúntas do bhaintreacha, daoine a raibh liúntais speisialta ar fáil acu. Sé príomh cuspóir an Bhille Arm-Phinsean, 1980 ná an liúntas sin a chur i bhfeidhm go reachtúil agus chomh maith leis sin chun feabhas a chur ar liúntais do bhaintreacha agus leanaí oifigeach agus saighdiúirí a fuair bás i mbun a ndualgas nó a cailltear, laistaigh de ceithre bhliana, de bharr chréachta a bhfuaireadar le linn a séirbhís. Tá foráil freisin sa Bhille chun iarrataisí a ghlacadh a dhiúltaíodh roimhe sin toisc iad a bheith déanach.
Os rud é go dtugann an Bille seo cúnamh bhreise do bhaintreacha na Sean-Óglaigh a ghlac pairt i gCogadh na Saoirse is cúis mhórshásaimh dom an Bille a mholadh. Don chéad uair riamh, tá liúntais á dtabhairt do bhaintreacha na ndaoine a raibh liúntais speisialta á íoc dóibh. Go dtí seo cuireadh deireadh le liúntas speisialta ar bhás an íocaí. Ó 1971 i leith tá liúntas do bhaintreacha pinsinéirí séirbhíse míleata ar fáil faoi Acht Arm-Phinsean 1971 agus molann an Bille seo liúntas de £185 sa bhliain a íoc le baintreacha daoine a raibh liúntas speisialta acu.
Maidir leis na liúntais bhreise do bhaintreacha agus leanaí oifigeach agus saighdiúirí a cailltear de bharr chréachta, tá na rátaí nua i bhfad níos buntáistí ná na liúntais atá ann anois. Faoi na forálacha nua gheobhaidh baintreach a bhfuil triúr chlainne aici 90 faoin gcéad phá a céile i dteannta na haiscí atá ann faoi láthair. Dar liom sé is lú is gann dúinn a dhéanamh ná soláthar ceart a dhéanamh do bháintreacha agus leanaí na bhfear a cailltear i mbun a ndualgas agus táim cinnte go n-aontóidh Seanadóirí liom san dearcadh seo. Bainfidh an foráil nua le hoifigigh agus saighdiúiri pé acu a gointear sa bhaile nó i gcéin iad.
Tá súil agam go nglacfaidh Seanadóirí fábharach leis an mBille.
In the budget statement last February, a new allowance was announced for the widows of special allowance holders. The purpose of the Army Pensions Bill, 1980, is to give statutory effect to the allowance and to provide improved allowances for the widows and children of military personnel who are killed in the course of their duty or who die from a wound attributable to service within four years of being wounded. The Bill also contains a regulation-making provision and proposes an extension of the time limit in certain circumstances for accepting applications for disablement pensions and allowances.
Section 2 provides for the payment of an allowance of £185 a year from 1 July 1980 to the widow of a person who dies while in receipt of a special allowance. Also included are the widows of persons whose application for a special allowance was being reviewed but who died before the grant or further grant of a special allowance could be made.
Widows of former special allowance holders whose allowances were terminated on the ground that their means exceeded the appropriate annual sum will be given the benefit of the new allowance as well, provided their own means do not equal or exceed the current appropriate annual sum for the award of a special allowance.
Where probate or letters of administration show that there has been non-disclosure of means on the part of a deceased special allowance holder, section 3 of the Bill provides for the recovery of any overpayment of special allowance which may have arisen. In the sense that the new allowance may be said to derive from the special allowance payment, it is necessary to make this provision. Nowadays, however, any overpayment that comes to light can usually be met from other moneys which are payable by the Department.
A special allowance holder could also be in receipt of a military service pension under the Military Service Pension Acts or a disability pension under the Army Pensions Acts. Provision already exists in the Army Pensions Acts, 1923 to 1973, for the payment of an allowance to the widow of a military service pensioner or, subject to certain conditions, to the widow of a person who died while in receipt of a disability pension. The current amount of any allowance in either of these cases is greater than the new allowance being provided for in this Bill. Section 4 of the Bill provides that the new allowance will not apply where the higher allowances are payable.
The new allowance will be disregarded as means for the purposes of the Social Welfare Acts in accordance with the terms of section 13 of the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Acts, 1968. Accordingly the new allowance will be paid in addition to any pension or allowance payable under those Acts.
Arising out of the introduction of the new allowance, I am arranging that, effective from 1 July 1980, the minimum rate of special allowance will be £185 a year. It is not necessary to provide for this increase in the Bill as the required statutory provision can be made by way of regulations which will be laid before the House.
The second main provision of the Bill is contained in section 5. This provides that if an officer or a soldier is killed in the course of his duty or in circumstances attributable to his service, or dies from a wound attributable to service and within four years of receiving the wound, his widow and children will be eligible for the following benefits:
Widow—50 per cent of the deceased's annual pay.
Each eligible child—If the mother is alive, 13? per cent of the deceased's annual pay. If the mother is dead, 26? per cent of the deceased's annual pay. Subject to a maximum of 40 per cent in respect of the children.
Under this provision if an officer or a soldier dies in circumstances mentioned, leaving a widow and three children, the allowances payable would amount to 90 per cent of his annual pay. Provision already exists for the payment of certain gratuities over and above the allowances being provided for in this section. The section also applies to the new allowances certain general sections of earlier Army Pensions Acts and makes the effective date 1 March 1975.
While the section relates to personnel killed or wounded whether at home or abroad, its importance is highlighted by the recent tragic deaths of members of our Defence Forces serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. The trauma suffered by the wives and families of the men who lost their lives in the cause of peace cannot be removed but we should try as far as possible to ensure that the widows and children are provided for. Any widow whose husband died in the circumstances specified in the section will get the benefit of the new allowances irrespective of the date of death of the husband. Therefore, a widow to whom the section applies, whose husband was killed at any time before 1975, will be given the benefit of the enhanced allowances from 1 March 1975. She will already have been in receipt of allowances under the provisions of the Army Pensions Act, 1927, as modified over the years, and the increased allowances now proposed will be applied to her automatically as the Department will already be in possession of the relevant particulars. The provision is a valuable and worthwhile one and will, I feel sure, commend itself to Senators.
As regards section 6 of the Bill the position is that a number of cases have arisen in the past where persons who applied for benefits under the Army Pensions Acts were refused because their applications were not made within the statutory time limit required by the Acts. This section would give all such persons an opportunity of renewing their applications within a period of twelve months after the enactment of the Bill. Senators may be aware of some such case and if so I should be glad to hear from them. My Department will be publicising the new provision and will make every effort to identify all relevant cases. I should perhaps mention that the section does not apply to the review of existing awards or to cases which failed other than on the ground that the applicant was late in applying. There is provision for such cases already in the Army Pensions Act, 1973.
Section 7 is a regulation-making provision. Section 7 of the Army Pensions Act, 1968 contains provision already for the making of regulations under the Acts but that provision is confined to increases where such increases form part of general increases in the public service. This section is designed to give greater flexibility by permitting other modifications. At present even a routine amendment, for example to extend a time limit, requires an amending Bill. This procedure takes up the time of the House, has been commented on by Senators in the past, and may entail lengthy delays for people who are awaiting benefits.
The House will still be able to keep a watch on matters through the operation of the provision requiring regulations to be laid before it with power to annul them.
Section 3 of the Army Pensions Act, 1968 provides that when a disablement pensioner, whose degree of disability is 50 per cent or more, dies, his widow and children are entitled to allowances irrespective of the cause of death. Under subsection (4) of that section applications for such allowances must be made within twelve months after the date of death of the deceased. In practice the award of allowances in such cases is automatic and does not require any investigation as to the attributability of death to military service. Therefore no useful purpose is served by retaining a time limit for applications in such cases and section 7 of the Bill proposes the repeal of the time limit with effect from the passing of the 1968 Act, namely 11 June, 1968.
I trust my remarks have made the provisions of the Bill clear to Senators. I recommend the Bill for the favourable consideration of the House.
