§ Mr. PATRICK WHITEasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he can state when the practice of addressing queries directly by post to small landholders whose claims are the subject of appeals under the Old Age Pensions Act, 1908, was adopted in all those cases by the Local Government Board for Ireland; whether this evidence on behalf of the claimants as respondents was previously obtained by that Board through the pension officers who were the appellants; whether he can state the total number of those appeals brought in the cases of small landholders in the county Meath and the number of same addressed directly by that Board and the number of same addressed by that Board through the pension officers respectively; whether in any or how many of those appeals from county Meath an officer of that Board visited the claimant; and whether he will request that Board in future to direct their queries in all cases to the claimant against whom an appeal is brought?
§ Mr. BIRRELLInformation regarding claimants is obtained by the Local Government Board in the way that seems best in each case. The particulars asked for by the hon. Member could only be ascertained by a prolonged search, entailing an amount of work out of all proportion to their value. The answer to the last part of the question is in the negative.
§ Mr. PATRICK WHITEasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he is aware that the only intimations received by many small landholders of the county Meath, 464W whose claims under the Old Age Pensions Act were the subject of appeal, were the official notices, firstly, that an appeal had been brought, and secondly, that they were not entitled to a pension; and whether, seeing that in many of those cases no other communication was received from the Local Government Board for Ireland, and that those notices failed to state the time and manner in which the evidence of those claimants was to be presented to that Board, or the reasons for that Board's decision, respectively, he can state what grounds that Board have for stating that those claimants have had an opportunity of being heard, and that they understood the reasons for that Board's decisions t
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe regulations have been strictly complied with in all cases. The notice informing a claimant that an appeal has been lodged states that his claim will be finally determined by the Local Government Board. On receipt of such notice it is open to him to submit to the Board, as many claimants' have done, any statement he may desire to make.
§ Mr. PATRICK WHITEasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he is aware that dissatisfaction is felt by many subcommittees under the Old Age Pensions Act in Ireland by reason of the Local Government Board for Ireland not making known to those committees the reasons for their decisions on appeals or the character of the expert evidence by which that Board is guided; and whether he will request that Board in future, when stating that a claimant is not entitled to a pension, to add whether by reason of age, income, or other disqualification, and generally to adopt a less reticent attitude in their relations with those committees?
§ Mr. BIRRELLI have nothing to add to my reply to the question on this subject asked by the hon. Member on 25th instant.