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Commemorative Events

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 27 January 2022

Thursday, 27 January 2022

Questions (118)

Aindrias Moynihan

Question:

118. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Defence the planned timeline for publication from the Military Service 1916-1923 Pension Collection; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3902/22]

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Written answers

The Military Service (1916-1923) Pensions Collection (MSPC) project is a joint Department of Defence and Defence Forces contribution to the Decade of Centenaries. The MSPC owes its origins to the decision of the Oireachtas of Saorstát Éireann in June 1923 to recognise and compensate wounded members, and the widows, children and dependents of deceased members of Óglaigh na hÉireann, including the National Forces, the Irish Volunteers, the Irish Republican Army and the Irish Citizen Army through the payment of allowances and gratuities. Over time, provision was enhanced and broadened to include members of the Hibernian Rifles, Cumann na mBan, Fianna Éireann and certain members of the Connaught Rangers. Two streams of legislation are relevant to the material in the collection:

- The Army Pensions Acts from 1923 to 1953

- The Military Service Pensions Acts, 1924, 1934 and 1949.

The MSPC project is mandated to preserve and make available the files and records of the Department of Defence dealing with the service of qualifying members of these organisations from the period April 1916 to the 30th of September 1923. This involves cataloguing and digitising in the region of 275,000 files.

To date, there has been eleven releases of material under the MSPC project, the latest release was in November 2021. Since the first release of material in 2014, more than 108,000 files have been individually catalogued by the MSPC team, with over 38,000 scanned files currently fully downloadable online. All releases of records from MSPC and the online resources are hosted on the Military Archives Website (www.militaryarchives.ie ).

The Military Service Pension Collection (MSPC) has been key to some of the most dynamic recent research on the Irish revolutionary period and the records contained in the collection provide invaluable historical information that captures first-hand accounts of the experiences of the individuals involved in this defining period of Irish history. Each release of material from this collection reveals previously unknown or forgotten experiences of those involved in events of that time. The continued digitisation and release of material from this collection presents the public with the opportunity to research information about their ancestors and their community during the period leading up to the establishment of Irish independence.

Looking forward, the MSPC project will continue to digitise and release additional material. For 2022, it is planned that two further releases of material will take place during the year and planning is underway for a third publication from the MSPC Project. At present, it is expected that this planned publication will be ready for release in Quarter 4 of this year.

The records in the MSPC are an important source for the history of the twentieth century Ireland as a whole and the planned publication will further explore the collection and consider the role of the collection into the future. Since the first release of material from this extensive historical collection it is clear that the records capture aspects of the lived experience in twentieth century Ireland and the collection contains many thousands of otherwise unrecorded voices.

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