I move:—
That the Defence Forces (Pensions) (Amendment) Scheme, 1947, prepared by the Minister for Defence, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, under the terms of the Defence Forces (Pensions) Act, 1932 (No. 26 of 1932), and the Defence Forces (Pensions) (Amendment) Act, 1938 (No. 33 of 1938), and laid before the House on 28th May, 1947, be confirmed.
Before dealing with the explanation of the scheme, I wish to point out that the scheme as made by me and approved by the Minister for Finance differs in two respects from the copies of the scheme circulated to Deputies.
In the scheme as made and approved the figure and letter 9 (a) appear in Article 14, sub-Article (1) (b) after the figure 9, and in Article 42, sub-Article (3) (b) the words "and less than 21 years" do not appear.
Again, in the White Paper which has been circulated there are two obvious misprints which Deputies, no doubt, will have noticed for themselves.
In the paragraph dealing with Article 7, the figures "1924" should read "1934" and in the paragraph dealing with Article 8 the figures "1934" should read "1924". There was a transposition of the figures.
The principal features of this amendment to the Defence Forces Pensions Scheme, 1937, are briefly as follows:—
1. To provide an increase of 30 per cent. for the pensions, technically known as retired pay, of officers retired or retiring on or after 2nd September, 1946.
2. To provide an increase in the basic pensions for other ranks and at the same time to provide for the first time an additional pension of 7/- a week for married soldiers discharged on or after 2nd September, 1946.
3. To provide increased rates of gratuity for soldiers.
4. To provide increased rates of pension for the Army nursing service.
5. To provide special gratuities for existing officers of the naval service.
6. To provide added notional years' service in certain circumstances for officers on retirement.
7. To remove certain restrictions imposed by the principal scheme.
The 30 per cent. increase in the retired pay of officers is provided for in Article 14 (1) of this amending scheme. Deputies will note that the increase extends to every type of retirement covered by the scheme. Broadly speaking, the scheme visualises three different types of retirement according as (a) an officer retires in the normal course either after 20 years' service or thereafter on reaching the age for retirement prescribed for his rank by Defence Force Regulation, or (b) he has to retire compulsorily in the interests of the service or on grounds of ill-health, or (c) he may of his own volition wish to retire after completing 12 but with less than 20 years' service. Each of these three types of retirement carries a different scale of pension, but the 30 per cent. increase applies to all without exception.
The rates of pension for men discharged on or after 2nd September, 1946, with 21 years' service have also been increased. The increase in the basic pension is about 12½ per cent. but as we are now, for the first time, providing for a married pension of 7/- a week, the over-all increase is more than 60 per cent. The new rates of pension are provided in Article 22 (1) of the amending scheme and the married pension by Article 22 (3). In the principal scheme no increase in rates was allowed if a man continued in service beyond 21 years, but Article 22 (2) now provides that for every year beyond 21, he will be entitled to an extra 1/- a week within a maximum of 10/- a week. The increase in the basic rates as well as the additional married rates of pension will also operate in the case of soldiers who have 15 years' service or more but less than 21 years and who are discharged on grounds of disability. This is the effect of Article 24.
As regards the new rates of gratuity for soldiers provided by Article 26, it will be seen that instead of the old flat rate of £1 a year for each year of service irrespective of rank, the new scheme discriminates between ranks and also provides different rates within these ranks for men with service up to seven years, seven to 13 years and 13 to less than 21 years' service. Privates with up to seven years' service will be entitled to 30/- a year, corporals and sergeants to 40/- a year and higher non-commissioned ranks to 50/- a year for each year of service. If they serve beyond seven years, the rates will be 60/-, 80/- and 100/- respectively, and if they serve beyond 13 years and do not qualify for a pension, the rates will be 90/-, 120/- and 150/- respectively.
Articles 28 to 32, inclusive, and Article 40 of the amending scheme deal exclusively with the Army Nursing Service, and for the most part their effect is to redraft and amend in minor respects some defects in the principal scheme. Article 40, however, has also the effect of increasing the rates of pension payable to the sisters of the service. Under the principal scheme, a nurse was entitled after 20 years' qualifying service to one-sixtieth of her emoluments for each year of service, and her emoluments included her pay and allowances. The latter were, however, fixed at a rather arbitrary figure of £64, but in future they will be related to the actual ration, uniform and accommodation allowances payable at the date of her retirement. Further, after 20 years' service the retiring nurse will be entitled to a thirtieth instead of a sixtieth for each year of qualifying service served after 20 years.
Article 12 provides special gratuities for existing officers of the naval service who have been granted short-term commissions in that service. During the next five years it is intended to reorganise the service completely, and at the end of that time it is hoped that we shall be able to man the vessels with officers and men who have been fully trained in the new equipment in the interval. Meanwhile, we have asked the present officers to continue in the service for a period of five years in commissioned rank, with a special gratuity payable at the end of that period.
The principal scheme already empowers the Minister to add to an officer's actual service a number of years' (within a maximum of five) notional service where the officer with 12 years or more but less than 20 years' service was compelled to retire for any cause other than age, misconduct, inefficiency or mental or physical incapacity. The principle, therefore, already exists of adding notional years' service in cases where officers are forced to retire in the interests of the service. The present amending scheme extends the principle in two directions. Under Articles 6 and 35, the Minister can retire officers with 20 years' service or more, and add as many years (within a maximum of five) as will bring their service up to the service which they would have had on reaching the age prescribed for retirement in their ranks by Defence Force Regulations. Again, Articles 7 and 36 give power to add ten years' service in the special case of those officers who were specially commissioned mainly as area administrative officers in the old Volunteer Force in December, 1933, and February, 1934.
The principal scheme imposed certain restrictive conditions on the grant of both pensions and gratuities which experience has shown to be unnecessarily harsh in their application, and which, therefore, this amending scheme seeks to remove. In the case of voluntary retirement, for instance, an officer above rank of captain, even though he had the necessary 12 years' qualifying service, could not receive a pension unless he was commissioned before 1st October, 1924. No such restriction applied to junior ranks so that, in effect, they were in a privileged position regarding voluntary retirement. Articles 8 and 37 of the amending scheme remove the restriction, so that all officers are now, irrespective of rank, on the same level.
Article 10 abolishes another restriction which appeared unreasonable in its application. The principal scheme provides that a married officer on retirement with the necessary pensionable years' service is entitled to not only a pension or retired pay, but also to what is called a married officer's gratuity. This gratuity was looked upon as some form of resettlement grant, with the result that it was not payable where an officer died suddenly while serving, or where officers did not retire before death. In order, therefore, to qualify for the gratuity, sick officers were forced to retire on their death beds, and when the necessary form was put into their hands to sign, it was in many cases the first indication to them that there was no hope of recovery.