Michael Creed
Ceist:210 Mr. Creed asked the Minister for Defence the reason a payment to a person (details supplied) in County Cork has been backdated only to 1995; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27593/01]
Written Answers. - Personal Injuries Compensation.
The person in question was injured in a road traffic accident in June 1955 while on duty as a member of the FCA. He instituted civil proceedings against the owner of the car involved in the accident and he received compensation of £2,500.
He also applied for compensation under the terms of the Emergency Powers (Compensation for Personnel Injuries) (Local Defence Forces) Scheme, 1942, and was found eligible for an award of periodic compensation under the scheme. However, no payments were actually made to him because the relevant amount of periodic compensation was less than the actuarial value of the compensation which he had received. His case was kept under review and he was re-examined on a number of occasions by the Army Pensions Board. When he was called for a further medical examination in 1962, the correspondence addressed to him was returned to the Department with the endorsement "gone away".
Nothing was heard from the individual until 30 years later when he made contact with the Department's Renmore office and a letter was issued to him in May 1991 clarifying the points raised. There was no further contact with him until earlier this year when he sought access to the departmental files relating to his case. He was provided with copies of those papers and, in May 2001, the Deputy put down a parliamentary question concerning the case. In the course of my reply to that question (No. 134 of 29 May), I outlined the background to the case and undertook to have it reviewed.
Subsequently, the person was examined by the Army Pensions Board and the board reported to the Department. Following consideration of the case in the Department, an award of periodic compensation has been made to the individual in question. In view of the unusual circumstances of the case, it was concluded in the Department that some degree of retrospection was warranted and it was decided to backdate the award for a period of six years (as had been done in other cases over the years). In that context, it was also decided that the actuarial value of the civil compensation received by the person should not be deducted from the periodic compensation. The Department wrote to the person on 31 October outlining the position and enclosed a substantial payment covering the retrospective period.