§ MR. FLYNNOn behalf of the hon. Member for North Leitrim (Mr. PATRICK M'HUGH), I beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty if he is aware that Naval Pensioner John Devine, of County Leitrim, is now an inmate in Sligo District Lunatic Asylum; is he aware that Devine, though discharged a physical and mental wreck, held the highest testimonials from his superior officers for honourable and efficient service; that he had been accustomed before his discharge to send his mother, Anne Devine, of Clonagh, County Leitrim, £2 per month out of his pay; and that the Governors of Sligo Asylum waived their claim against the pension of Devine, charging the amount so remitted on the local rates, and appealed to the Admiralty to pay the grant in aid without deducting it from the pension in order that the whole pension should go to Devine's mother, who has no other means of subsistence; is he aware that but for the generosity of the Asylum Governors, Mrs. Devine would now be an inmate of the local workhouse; and will he see that the pension of this man, who lost his mental and bodily health in Her Majesty's Service, is paid in full to his mother?
§ THE SECRETARY TO THE ADMIRALTY (Mr. W. E. MACARTNEY,) Antrim, S.John Devine was discharged for general paralysis of the insane, constitutional, and not in any way due to his service in the Marines. The amount for which the Governors of the Sligo Asylum have waived their claim is £8 per annum. A deduction of £10 8s. a year from the man's pension is required to be made under the provisions of the Superannuation Act of 1887, on account of the Government contribution in aid of his maintenance. The full amount of the pension could, however, be paid to the mother on a certificate being furnished by the Governors of the Asylum that no claim for the Government grant will be made in this case.