§ 1. Mr. BECKERasked the Minister of Pensions what is the present cost peal annum of the Irish medical board situated in Dublin; and how many patients did they examine during the period 1st July, 1921, to July, 1922?
§ The MINISTER of PENSIONS (Major Tryon)The cost of the medical boards sitting at Dublin during the year in question was approximately £30,000, and during that period nearly 20,000 examinations were made. The average cost of each examination, as revealed by these figures, is, of course, exceptionally high and is to be accounted for by the abnormal conditions prevailing in Ireland during the period stated. The cost has already been greatly reduced.
§ 7. Mr. SHORTasked the Minister of Pensions if he is aware that when a medical board reports that the disability of an applicant is attributable to War service the Ministry refuses to accept the 1954 opinion of its own officers, and opposes the application; if so, by whom is the opinion rejected; where it is rejected, is the applicant afforded another opportunity of appearing before another medical board; and, if not, what is the reason for refusing the opportunity?
§ Major TRYONThe hon. Member is under a serious misapprehension as to the procedure of the Ministry. The question whether a man is entitled to any compensation at all (as distinct from the question as to the extent to which he is disabled) has never been a matter to be decided by the original medical board which either invalided the man out of the Army or considered his case under an Article 9 claim. The question has to be determined in the light of the man's conditions of service, his medical history during service, and, in some cases, before enlistment, and other considerations which, in many cases, are not medical matters at all; and, so far as the matter is a medical one, the opinion of a specialist is often necessary. On the question of title to pension, every case is, of course, carefully considered in the Regional Office by medical assessors and other officers, in the light of all the evidence available, after the board has given its opinion. If the Ministry had made a rule accepting in all cases the opinion of the first medical board on the question of entitlement, a very large number of the eases now on the pension list would not have been admitted at all, because the opinion of the first board is probably as often unfavourable to the man as favourable. With regard to the latter part of the question, it is the case that where title to pension is subsequently questioned, on the advice of a specialist or otherwise, the Ministry do not decide the case without the man having an opportunity of stating his own case before a further special medical board. I would remind the hon. Member that in every case where the Ministry reject a claim, the man has a right of appeal to the independent Appeal Tribunal under the Lord Chancellor.