§ Mr. HAYDENasked the Secretary to the Treasury whether he was aware that in many cases in Ireland a search in the census papers of 1841 and 1851 had failed to discover the names of persons applying for old age pensions, in reference to whose age qualifications for pensions the committees had no doubt from their appearance and other evidence; whether in such cases the claims had been disallowed by the pension officers; and, if so, would he state the nature of the proof of age acceptable to the pension authorities?
§ The FINANCIAL SECRETARY of the TREASURY (Mr. Hobhouse)Pension officers have no power to disallow claims. They can only report to the pension committee, and, if dissatisfied with the Committee's decision, appeal to the Local Government Board. As regards the question of the evidence to be sought by pension officers with a view to enabling them to report as to the ages of claimants, I can only refer the hon. Member to the second schedule of the Old Age Pensions Regulations, 1908, which lays down the rules by which they are to be guided and the character of the various heads of documents to which they may have regard.