I move—
That a sum not exceeding £1,103,170 be granted to complete the sum necessary to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1959, for Wound and Disability Pensions, Further Pensions and Married Pensions, Allowances and Gratuities (No. 26 of 1923, No. 12 of 1927, No. 24 of 1932, No. 15 of 1937, No. 2 of 1941, No. 14 of 1943, No. 3 of 1946, Nos. 19 and 28 of 1949, No. 23 of 1953, and No. 19 of 1957); Military Service Pensions, Allowances and Gratuities (No. 48 of 1924, No. 26 of 1932, No. 43 of 1934, No. 33 of 1938, No. 5 of 1944, Nos. 11 and 34 of 1945, Nos. 7 and 29 of 1949, No. 5 of 1953 and No. 12 of 1957); Pensions, Allowances and Gratuities (No. 37 of 1936, No. 9 of 1948, No. 30 of 1950, No. 27 of 1952, No. 4 of 1953, and No. 17 of 1957); Payments in respect of Compensation for Members of the Local Defence Force (No. 19 of 1946 and No. 15 of 1949); and for sundry Contributions and Expenses in respect thereof, etc.
The total sum required for Army Pensions for 1958-59 is £1,654,750, which is a decrease of £2,380 on the Estimate for 1957-58.
The principal provisions of this Estimate are for pensions under the Military Service Pensions Acts; would and disability pensions, special allowances, dependents' allowances and gratuities under the Army Pensions Acts; and service pensions and gratuities under the Defence Forces (pensions) schemes in respect of service in the permanent Defence Force.
The only appreciable increase occurs in sub-head J—Defence Forces (Pensions) Schemes. The increase of £47,000 in this sub-head is due to the increasing number of retired and discharged Army and Naval personnel for whom provision has to be made as well as to the introduction last year of a scheme of supplementary retired pay for certain officers on retirement who were awarded the 1916 Medal or the Service (1917-1921) Medal or both. This scheme—the Defence Forces (pensions) (amendment) (No. 2) scheme, 1957—was, it will be recalled, approved last November by both Houses of the Oireachtas.
The only reductions, I think, that call for any comment are those under sub-head F—Allowances and Gratuities to Dependents, etc.—and sub-head I— Military Service Pensions. The reduction of £15,393 under sub-head F as compared with 1957-58 is due to the fact that, when the 1957-58 Estimate was being prepared, a large number of claims for allowances under Part II of the Army Pensions Act, 1953, from relatives of deceased persons with pre-Truce service were under consideration and were likely to be decided in 1957-58. This accumulation has since been disposed of in the main. As regards sub-head I—Military Service Pensions—the 1957-58 Estimate was prepared on the basis that all outstanding claims would have been decided by the end of December last and that consequently the cost of new pensions, including arrears, would be high. This was not possible, however, with the result that the sub-head was rather overestimated.
I now expect that all outstanding applications and petitions under the Military Service Pensions Acts will have been disposed of by the 30th September next and this Estimate provides in sub-head C for the cost of the Referee and Advisory Committee for six months only.
I hope that the brief comments which I have made will assist Deputies in their examination of the Estimate. If any further explanations are required I shall endeavour to give them.