Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 27 Mar 1924

Vol. 6 No. 32

COMMITTEE ON FINANCE. - ARMY PENSIONS.

Mr. BLYTHE

I move: "That a sum not exceeding £10,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st March 1924, for wound pensions, allowances and gratuities under the Army Pensions Act, 1923, and for sundry contributions in respect of the administration thereof."

This estimate is for a new service, and it is presented pursuant to Section 14 of the Army Pensions Act, 1923, which enacts that pensions shall be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas. It is estimated that £120,000 will be required to defray expenses under the Act to the 31st March, 1925, and £10,000 is taken as the figure which may be expended before the 31st March, 1924. The Army Pensions Board has had a number of sittings for the assessment of pensions and allowances, and has now sat twice this week, and it is expected that at the end of this week it will have dealt with a large amount of the most urgent and easily assessable cases. The sum for a supplementary estimate appears to be a very large one for such a short period, but the fact is that in the case of allowances granted in respect of the deaths of persons killed before April, 1922, the pensions are payable from that day, representing two years' arrears.

Mr. JOHNSON

There is a matter that I would like to bring to the notice of the Minister under this Vote. It is with regard to the Medical Board and the possibilities of an appeal to a referee. I think that that has been the practice under the British Pensions Act, and gave, I think, some satisfaction. It seems almost to be desirable from every point of view. The Medical Board makes an assessment, and I take it that it is still within the right of the Minister to veto that, but it is suggested, and I think with some force, that there should be an appeal made to a specialist in the case of wounds; at least they should be open to an appeal. The existence of such a referee would, I believe, ensure more satisfaction than his absence. I do not think it would cost very much. I think it would be a valuable addition to the scheme of administration under this Act.

Mr. WILSON

When the Army Pensions Bill was being introduced in the Dáil the financial clauses were, I understood, to be made up by savings on the Army Vote, and therefore I am wondering why you did not show that this expense would be part of the savings which must have been made last year on the sum of ten million pounds voted for the Army. I am not taking exception to the new Vote, but I thought you would show this as a grant-in-aid from the Army Vote and not in the way of new money.

Mr. BLYTHE

I am not sure but that the amount might have been met out of the Army Vote. But this is really an entirely separate thing from current expenditure on the Army. The general rule is to keep the Army Pensions Vote a separate vote entirely from the Army Votes, and not to be taking the savings under one head into account in the other. No matter what savings we might make in the Army, if we abolish the Army altogether the Army Pensions would have to continue for a certain length of time. I believe that the amount of £10,000 could have been found within the limits of the present Army Vote only that we regarded this thing as an entirely different matter. With regard to the matter of the referee, I can see a good deal to be said for the referee, but I would like to have an examination of the matter made before committing myself to agreeing with the suggestion of Deputy Johnson. I would discuss it with him at some future time if he would raise it. I see on the face of it, that it is generally desirable to have an appeal in such cases, but I would not be prepared really to discuss the matter now.

Question put and agreed to.