Tairgim go léifear an Bille an Dara hUair anois.
Is é is mó atá i gceist sa Bhille seo lamháltais a dheonadh agus aimhrial-tachtaí a chur as an tslí inithe a bhaineann leis na hAchtanna Arm-Phinsean, agus is deimhin liom go dtiocfaidh le Teachtaí glacadh leis gan dua.
Déanann ailt 2 agus 3 soláthar chun liúntais a dheonadh do bhaintreacha agus do leanaí i gcásanna áirithe faoi na hAchtanna 1923 agus 1927 nárbh fhéidir roimhe seo, toisc na gcoin-níollacha a forordaíodh i dtaobh cleithiúnais, ach aiscí amháin a dheonadh nó muna ndéanfaí sin nárbh fhéidir dámhachtain ar bith a dhéanamh. Ní éiríonn an deacracht seo ach i gcásanna áirithe; san Acht 1932, mar shampla, níl a leithéid ann in aon chor. Measaim go n-aontófar, chomh fada is a bhaineann le bain-treacha agus leanaí, gur rud saorga, ar an gcuid is mó de, aon cheist i dtaobh bheith i gcleithiúnas ar fhearchéile nó ar athair marbh agus is é éifeacht ailt a 2 agus ailt a 3 na coinníollacha i leith cleithiúnais a bhaint amach.
Ar an gcuma chéanna, tá Alt 4 ceaptha chun ceartú a dhéanamh i dtaobh leanaí dílleachtacha áirithe de chomhaltaí d'Óglaigh na hÉireann atá faoi bhun na n-aoiseanna forordaithe agus nach féidir leo cáiliú le haghaidh liúntas toisc, mar gheall ar oibriú na nAchtanna áirithe faoina bhfuair an t-athair a phinsean, nach raibh sé ag fáil pinsin phósta le linn báis dó. Sin deacracht freisin nach mbíonn ann i gcónaí. Ní thagann sé i gceist ach i dhá chás—san Acht 1946 agus san Acht 1949—agus tá cúis an-láidir ann lena cur as an tslí.
Mar is eol do Theachtaí, is ionann agus atá do dhaoine neamhphósta, "an tsuim fhorordaithe bhliantúil" chun críocha liúntais speisialta i gcás daoine a pósadh ar nó tar éis an lú Deireadh Fómhair, 1942. Is míbhuntáiste do na daoine pósta sin an t-idirdhealú sin atá gan bhailíocht anois, pé fáth a bhí leis nuair a tugadh isteach na liúntais speisialta don chéad uair. Ar an ábhar sin, tá an t-idirdhealú á chur as an tslí le hAlt 6 den Bhille agus, as seo amach, is mar a chéile an tsuim iomchuí bhliantúil do gach duine pósta lena mbaineann, gan toradh ar an dáta pósta.
I gCuid II den Acht 1953, rinneadh soláthar chun liúntais a íoc le gaolta áirithe de dhaoine marbha a raibh seirbhís acu roimh an sos agus a fuair bás de dheasca cúrsaí do b'inchurtha i leith seirbhíse le linn na tréimhse, 1916-1923. Ar na gaol-aicmí dá ndearnadh soláthar i gCuid II níor áiríodh leanaí buan-easlána agus beartaítear anois in Alt 8 den Bhille, liúntas de £125 sa bhliain a dheonadh do mhac buan-easlán amháin nó, más neamhphósta nó ina baintreach di, d'iníon bhuan-easlán amháin d'aon duine marbh a mbeadh feidhm ag Cuid II ina leith. Beidh sé ina choinníoll ar aon dámhachtain dá leithéid sin an bhuan-easláinte a bheith ar an leanbh, más mac é, sula raibh 18 mbliana slánaithe aige agus, más iníon í, 21 bliain—is é sin le rá, le linn an leanbh a bheith go fóill i gcleithiúnas ar an athair, de réir prionsabail na nAchtanna Arm-Phinsean.
Toirmisceadh roinnt iarratas faoi Chuid II den Acht 1953 mar gheall ar an teorainn ama a leagadh síos sa Chuid sin. Le hAlt 9 den Bhille seo, tá an teorainn ama sin á fadú. Glacfar le hiarratais a dhéanfar laistigh de dhá mhí dhéag tar éis don Bhille seo teacht ina dhlí.
Baineann Alt 10 le teorainn ama freisin. Mhaolaigh an tAcht 1953 na coinníollacha maidir leis an dáta pósta chun cáiliú le haghaidh pinsin phósta i gcás duine a raibh seirbhís aige roimh an sos ach níorbh fholáir do dhaoine a bhí i dteideal chuige agus a raibh pinsin mhíchumais ach nach raibh pinsin phósta acu, iarratas a dhéanamh laistigh de dhá mhí dhéag tar éis an tAcht a rith. Tharla i gcás duine a raibh pinsean míchumais aige sula dtáinig an tAcht 1953 ina dhlí, gur cuireadh an pinsean sin ar fionraí, áfach, i rith na teorann ama ar an ábhar, mar a bhí an scéal, gur thit grád a mhíchumais faoi bhun na teorann inphinsin. Tugadh an pinsean thar n-ais ina dhiaidh sin ach, má tugadh, bhí sé ró-dhéanach aige ansin iarratas a dhéanamh ar an bpinsean pósta. Ceartóidh Alt 10 an cás sin anois agus, ina theannta sin, déanfaidh sé soláthar do chásanna eile den sórt céanna, a fhéadfadh tárlú, i gcúrsaí áirithe, san am le teacht.
I Scéim Óglaigh na hÉireann (Pinsin) lenar ghlac An Dáil agus An Seanad le déanaí, rinneadh soláthar trína ndéanfaí, faoi réir coinníollacha áirithe, féachaint ar leanaí a uchtaítear faoin Acht Uchtála, 1952, amhail is dá mba leanaí iad a rugadh de phósadh dleathach do na tuisimitheoirí uchtála. Tugann Alt 13 den Bhille seo an prionsabal céanna isteach chun críocha na nAchtanna Arm-Phinsean.
Is é an lamháltas deireanach atá agam le lua, gach teorainn ama a bhaint amach maidir le hiarratas a dhéanamh ar Bhonn Seirbhíse (1917-1921), a gcuirfeadh a bhronnadh an duine a gheobhadh é i dteideal iarratas a dhéanamh ar liúntas speisialta. Labhras ina thaobh seo agus Meastachán an nArm-Phinsean á thabhairt isteach agam tamaillín ó shin agus is ar éigean is gá dom a thuilleadh a rá mar gheall air anois. Bainfear amach an teorainn ama de bhua ailt 14 agus an Sceidil.
Tá na hailt eile den Bhille teicniúil iontu féin. I leith forálacha áirithe de na hAchtanna, leagann amach ailt 5, 7 agus 12 an prionsabal ginearálta a rialaíonn cód iomlán na bPinsean—is é sin, nach féidir dámhachtana a dhéanamh a bhfuil baint ag pósadh leo ach amháin nuair a rinneadh an pósadh roimh an dáta urscaoilte i gcás galair nó roimh dháta na créachta i gcás créachta. Beartaítear a chur as an tslí le Alt 10 rud is deacair a léiriú.
This Bill is concerned in the main with the granting of concessions and the removal of anomalies in matters affecting the Army Pensions Acts, and I feel sure that Deputies will find no difficulty in accepting it.
Sections 2 and 3 provide for the award of allowances to widows and children in certain cases under the Acts of 1923 and 1927 in which heretofore, owing to prescribed conditions as to dependency, only gratuities could be awarded or no award could be made at all. This difficulty arises in some cases only; it does not, for instance, occur in the Act of 1932. I think it will be agreed that, where widows and children are concerned, any question of dependency on the deceased husband or father is largely artificial, and the effect of Sections 2 and 3 is to remove the dependency conditions.
In the same way, Section 4 is designed to adjust a position under which certain orphaned children of members of the Forces under the prescribed ages cannot qualify for allowances because, owing to the operation of the particular Acts under which the father received his pension, he was not in receipt of a married pension when he died. This difficulty, again, is not of general application. It arises only in the case of two of the Acts—those of 1946 and 1949—and there is a very strong case for its removal.
As Deputies are aware, the "prescribed annual sum" for special allowance purposes is, in the case of persons married on or after the 1st October, 1942, the same as that for unmarried persons. The distinction operates to the disadvantage of such married persons and has no validity now, whatever its justification may have been when special allowances were first introduced. By section 6 of the Bill, therefore, the distinction is being removed, and for the future, the appropriate annual sum will be the same for all married persons, irrespective of the date of marriage.
In Part II of the Act of 1953, provision was made for the payment of allowances to certain relatives of deceased persons who had pre-truce service and who died as a result of circumstances attributable to service during the 1916-1923 period. The classes of relative covered by Part II did not include permanently invalided children, and it is now proposed, in section 8 of the Bill, to grant an allowance of £125 a year to one permanently invalided son or to one permanently invalided daughter, provided she is unmarried or a widow, of any deceased person in respect of whom Part II would apply. It will be a condition of any such award that the permanent invalidism existed before the child, if a son, attained the age of 18 years, and if a daughter, the age of 21 years— that is to say, while the child would still, in accordance with the principles of the Army Pensions Acts, have been dependent on the father.
A number of applications under Part II of the Act of 1953 have been debarred by reason of the time-limit laid down in that Part. By Section 9 of the Bill, the time-limit in question is being extended. Applications will be accepted if made within twelve months after this Bill becomes law.
Section 10 also relates to a time-limit. The Act of 1953 relaxed the conditions as to the date of marriage for the purpose of qualifying for a married pension in the case of a person with pre-truce service, but application had to be made within twelve months of the passing of the Act by eligible persons who had disablement pensions but not married pensions. A case arose of a person who, before the Act of 1953 became law, had a disablement pension which was, however, suspended during the period of the time-limit because, as it happened, his degree of disability had fallen below the pensionable limit. The pension was subsequently restored, but it was then too late for him to apply for the married pension. Section 10 will now adjust this case, and will also cover other such cases which, in certain circumstances, could arise in the future.
In the Defence Forces (Pensions) Scheme which was recently approved by the Dáil and Seanad, provision was made whereby children adopted under the Adoption Act 1952 would, subject to certain conditions, be regarded as if they were children born in lawful wedlock to the adopting parents. Section 13 of the present Bill introduces the same principle for the purposes of the Army Pensions Acts.
The last concession which I have to mention is the removal of any time-limit for applying for a Service (1917-1921) Medal, the award of which would render the recipient eligible to apply for a special allowance. I spoke about this matter when introducing the Estimate for Army Pensions a short time ago, and it is hardly necessary for me to say any more about it now. The time-limit will be removed by virtue of Section 14 and the Schedule.
The remaining sections of the Bill are technical in nature. Sections 5, 7 and 12 set out, in respect of certain provisions of the Acts, the general principle which governs the entire pensions code, namely, that awards affected by marriage may be made only if the marriage took place before the date of discharge in the case of disease or, in a wound case, before the date of the wound. Section 10 is intended to remove a difficulty of interpretation.
I hope that, taken in conjunction with the explanatory memorandum which accompanied the Bill, my remarks will have made its provisions quite clear to Deputies.
