§ MR. P. MEEHANTo ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether pension officers in Ireland have been instructed by the Board of Inland Revenue that in the opinion of the Board maintenance of a claimant in a union hospital since 1st January, 1908, is a disqualification for an old-age pension; and whether he will cause this decision to be rescinded, at least in those cases in which the claimant is willing to repay the cost of his maintenance.
§ MR. J. MACVEAGH (Down, S.)To ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is a ware that, by decisions in Ireland of revising barristers and Judges, it has been repeatedly held that relief in a workhouse hospital does not disqualify the recipients from admission to the register of voters; whether he is aware that by Section 5 of the Parliamentary Registration (Ireland) Act, 1855, this principle is laid down; and whether, in view of the provisions of Section 3 of the Old-Age Pensions Act, he will state if pension officers are acting under authority in objecting to claims on the grounds that the claimants have been treated in workhouse hospitals.
(Answered by Mr. Lloyd-George.) I may perhaps be allowed to take these two Questions together. The point which they raise was dealt with in my reply to a Question by the hon. Member for Kilkenny on the 9th instant, and I do not think I can usefully add anything to what I then said.