§ Mr. LUNDONasked the Chief Secretary whether the Local Government Board have yet decided the appeal in the case of Thomas Casey, Anhid, Croom; whether he is aware that Casey's claim was passed three times by the local pension committee; what is the reason of the Local Government Board not having decided the last appeal, it having been made in August, 1910; has the Local Government Board been informed by the applicant that in 1847 he was imprisoned in Croom bride-well for one week on the charge of having been caught in the act of stealing a turnip from the garden of a local gentleman, Casey having been at that time eleven years old; and, in view of such a statement, will the pension be kept from him?
§ Mr. BIRRELLOn 3rd April the Local Government Board gave a decision upholding the pension officer's appeal against the decision of the local pension sub-committee of 10th August, 1910, awarding Thomas Casey a pension of five shillings a week. It is not the fact that Casey's claim was passed three times by the sub-committee, as, on a question raised by the pension officer on the ground that Casey had not reached the statutory age, they determined on 9th May, 1910, that he was not entitled to a pension, a decision against which Casey appealed. The delay in dealing with the claim allowed by the pension sub-committee in August last was due to the failure of the clerk of the sub-committee to forward the necessary documents. Casey made no statement to the Board as to his having been imprisoned in 1847.