Vol. 7 No. 14
I move that the Committee agree with the Seanad in the following amendment to the Old Age Pension Bill, 1924:
In Section 1, lines 25 and 26, the words "2nd day of May" deleted and the words "20th day of June" substituted therefor.
The change in date was necessitated by the delay in passing the Bill.
Would it be in order to move that this be deferred until the 20th October—that is, to alter the 20th June to the 20th October?
It would.
I beg to move that the word "June" be altered to "October" for the purpose of allowing breathing time for the pensioners. There is not much to be said in pressing this amendment except that it will delay the falling of the axe, and in that way stave off a certain amount of undesirable State-imposed poverty. I therefore beg to move it.
I move that the Committee agree with the Seanad in amendment No. 2:—
In section 3 (2), immediately after the word "week" in line 46, the following words inserted: "to a person who, on the first appointed day, shall not have attained the age of 80 years."
This amendment is put in for completing the purposes of an amendment of Deputy Daly's, which was accepted in the Dáil. This would exclude from the cut old age pensioners over 80 who happen to have a pension of only 1s. a week; otherwise they would have lost that shilling.
I move that the Committee agree with the Seanad in this amendment:—
At the end of section 3 two new sub-sections inserted as follows:—
(3) If any person whose pension is reduced or terminated in pursuance of a ruling by the pension officer under this section claims that by reason of his age his pension should not have been liable to be so reduced or terminated, such person may appeal against such reduction or termination, as the case may be, to the local pension committee, who shall consider the matter and give their decision thereon in the same manner and subject to the like appeal to the central pension authority as if the ruling of the pension officer under this section was the report of a pension officer on a claim referred to him for report and inquiry under Section 7 of the Act of 1908.
(4) An appeal against the ruling of a pension officer reducing or terminating a pension under this section shall not suspend the operation of such ruling, but if the appeal is finally determined in favour of the pensioner, he shall be entitled to receive all sums which would have been payable to him if the ruling of the pension officer had been in accordance with such final determination.
The purpose of the amendment is to provide an appeal in case any person claims to have been over age and has suffered a reduction, so that the matter may be determined in the usual way. In the next section of the Bill, which deals with the revision of pensions, a provision such as this was inserted, but by an oversight it was not inserted in Section 3.
