asked the Minister for Finance if he is aware that the Compensation (Personal Injuries) Committee are dealing with cases without seeing the claimants or their representatives, and that the Finance Department are issuing awards that are not sufficient to pay the expenses of the victims and in a large number of cases grant no compensation whatsoever to citizens who were seriously injured and permanently disfigured as a result of being fired on or caught in ambushes during the 1922-23 troubles, and if he will take steps to have all such cases sympathetically reconsidered and reasonable compensation awarded.
CEISTEANNA—QUESTIONS. ORAL ANSWERS. - AWARDS FOR PERSONAL INJURIES.
The Compensation (Personal Injuries) Committee has complete discretion in regard to the manner in which it conducts its investigations into cases falling within its terms of reference, and I do not propose to interfere with this discretion.
Will the Minister state whether this Committee is appointed for the purpose of doing justice to the citizens, or whether it is appointed to prevent these people from getting reasonable compensation?
The Terms of Reference have been published. I cannot recall them in full, but they were for the purpose of recommending such compensation as was fair and reasonable in all the circumstances.
I would ask the Minister whether any Committee can adequately judge the merits of a case without seeing the victims or giving them an opportunity of attending on their own behalf?
It would depend upon the case.