§ Mr. J. MacVEAGHasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland, with reference to the fact that the school registers may be made available for the purpose of establishing the ages of claimants for old age pensions, as stated in the letter of 6th November, 1909, from the Commissioners of National Education (Ireland) to Mr. M. Sullivan, whether any conditions as to the terms on which such registers may be used have been laid down by the Commissioners; and, if so, what; and whether the Commissioners have ascertained, approximately, the extent to which the school registers in use from 1846 to 1864 are still in existence?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Commissioners of National Education have permitted the national school registers to be utilised by persons seeking old age pensions in order to establish their ages, but no conditions have been laid down regarding them. The registers are kept in the schools, but the Commissioners have not ascertained to what extent the registers in use from 1846 to 1864 have been preserved.
§ Mr. SCANLANasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he can promise that something will be done by the Irish Government to allay the anxiety excited amongst the old people in Ireland of over 70 years of age on account of the stoppage of pensions by the Irish total Government Board in cases where the local pension committees have been satisfied, on full consideration of all available evidence, that the pensions are payable, and where they have ordered the payment of pensions; and whether, in view of the fact that evidence as to age in a great many cases is not derivable from Census Returns on account of the errors and inaccuracies in these Returns for Ireland in the last century, he will direct that the evidence available in the locality, sifted and inquired into impartially by the local 339 pension committees, shall be acted upon in accordance with the provisions of The Old Age Pensions Act, 1908, so that honest and deserving old people shall be saved from the despair in which the action of the Irish Government has plunged them by depriving them of their pension?
§ Mr. BIRRELLIt is the duty of the Local Government Board to determine the questions raised by pension officers on the decisions of the local pension committees, and the Board are bound to form their own conclusions on the merits of each case. Claimants or pensioners are in all cases afforded an opportunity of putting forward such evidence as they can obtain, and any representations made by the local pension committees are also duly considered.
§ Mr. SCANLANasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether his attention has been called to the action of the Local Government Board in stopping the pensions under the Old Age Pensions Act of Bridget M'Gowan, of Dunmoran, and Catherine Gilhooly, Highpark, in the Skreen sub-committee district of the county of Sligo; whether he is aware that the local pension committee which considered and decided on granting pensions to those people consisted of five district councillors, one local Protestant clergyman, and three Roman Catholic priests; whether he is aware that in the opinion of this committee the said Bridget M'Gowan is 80 years of age, and the said Catherine Gilhooly is also qualified for a pension in respect of her age, being well over 70 years, and that reliable evidence in each case has been submitted to the committee; and whether he will require the Local Government Board to reconsider their decision in both cases and secure that the pensions in both cases shall be paid?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Local Government Board are not aware of the composition of local pension sub-committees. The Skreen sub-committee expressed an opinion, as stated in the question, that Bridget McGowan was 80 years of age, but her own statement in her claim to a pension was that her age was 72. The only evidence which the Board could obtain from her as to her age was that of the parish priest, who stated that when he came to the parish in 1869 she was certainly over 30, and that he considered her to be about 75 years old. In the case of Catherine Gilhooly, the Census Return of 1851 gave her age as five years, which 340 would make her only 63 years old now. She claimed to be 71, but the only evidence she could put forward was the statement of a neighbour that he believed that the claimant was over 19 years of age when he was married in 1857. It is not open to the Board to reconsider their decisions, but if fresh claims are lodged the Board will send an inspector to visit the claimants and report generally on the evidence in the two cases.