§ 38. Mr. FELLasked what is the explanation of the small sum received under the National Insurance Act from insured persons in Ireland compared with the sums received from them in Scotland and Wales; if the contributions paid in Ireland will be kept distinct from those paid in England, Scotland, and Wales, and be applied only to benefits for insured persons in Ireland; and if the sanatoria benefits for the insured persons and their dependants will, under the circumstances, be possible for Ireland?
§ Mr. MASTERMANThe comparative smallness of the receipts from contributions under the National Insurance Act in Ireland is partly due to the fact that the contributions are smaller, in the absence of provision for medical benefit, and partly to the fact that the proportion of persons working on their own account and therefore not liable to compulsory insurance to the total population is much higher than in Great Britain. The answer to the second question is in the affirmative, and that to the third is also in the affirmative so far as insured persons 28 themselves are concerned. The extension of sanatorium benefit to dependants, if it takes place, will, of course, be governed by the provisions of Section 17 of the Act. The fact that a smaller number of persons are insured relatively to the population than in Scotland and Wales does not mean that the money available for sanatorium benefit for each of those persons is less.