EARL of KERRYasked the Secretary to the Treasury if the circumstances of the resignation of his office, in September last, by Mr. T. B. Roberts, excise and old age pension officer at Bakewell, Derbyshire, at the age of thirty-five, have been brought to his notice; if he is aware that Mr. Roberts was compelled under medical advice to give up his work solely on account of loss of eyesight; that this loss was certified by the senior surgeon of the Royal Eye Hospital, at Manchester, as being directly due to overwork consequent on the size and conditions of the district which he was required to administer, with the additional work involved by the Old Age Pension Act, 1908, and that there is no prospect of his regaining his sight or obtaining other employment; and whether, in view of these circumstances, he can see his way to make such an increase in the pension and allowance, which have been promised, as will afford Mr. Roberts some prospect of being able to maintain himself and his family during the remainder of his life?
§ Mr. MASTERMANThe circumstances of Mr. Roberta's retirement are known to me. His eyesight was always weak, had it been normal it would not have been affected by his work, which was not more than an average day's work for an officer of normal vision. There is no power under the Superannuation Acts to increase the amount of pension already granted. I understand that he is fit for light employment not involving clerical duties, and a post of this nature has been offered him by the Board of Customs and Excise.