§ Mr. LUNDONasked the Chief Secretary if he 'will accede to the wishes of the Kilfinane pension committee, county Limerick, and send down an inspector to investigate the claims of both Bovenizer and Tobin, as in both these cases the pension officer was satisfied that the cliamants had reached the age of seventy?
§ Mr. BIRRELLAs I have already informed the hon. Member, these cases have been decided, and the Local Government Board have accordingly no power to reopen consideration of the claims or to send an inspector to investigate them.
§ Mr. LUNDONasked on what grounds the Local Government Board refuses to grant a pension to Thomas Courtney, of Ballinrush, Kilworth, county Cork; did the Fermoy pension committee pass the claim on two different occasions; were the Local Government Board not satisfied that this poor man has nothing to live on except the goodness of his son; and will the whole case be reconsidered?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThomas Courtney's pension was disallowed on appeal by the Local Government Board as they were not satisfied that his means were less than £31 10s. a year. His claims for pension were not 1505W allowed by the pension committee on two occasions as stated in the question. The pension committee disallowed the first claim in 1911, and, on appeal, their decision was confirmed by the Board. In connection with his second claim the pension committee allowed him a pension of 5s., but on appeal the claim was disallowed. The claimant is maintained on a large, well-stocked and fully cropped farm which he assigned to his son in 1911, and in the opinion of the Board the benefits therefrom were worth more than £31 10s. a year.