§ Mr SHEEHANasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he is aware that the Millstreet Old Age Pension Committee, after full and careful inquiry, granted pensions to Cornelius Dinneen, of Rathduane, and his wife, who were both admittedly over the prescribed age limit; is he aware that the husband, Cornelius Dinneen, assigned his farm, stock, etc., to his son on marriage, reserving only for the maintenance of his wife and himself £7 per annum, three bags of potatoes per annum, one 79W quart of sour milk and one pint of new milk daily, the use of a room and firing for same; and will he say whether the Local Government Board decided against the appeal of the pension officer on the ground that their income exceeded the statutory limit of £31 10s.; whether the calculations of the pension officer were based on an equal division of the perquisites above mentioned between Dinneen and his wife; if not, upon what other basis did he proceed, and how, in any event, did the Local Government Board decide that their means exceeded the statutory limit; and whether, 80W in the circumstances, an immediate revision will be ordered?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Local Government Board are not aware of the principle adopted by the pension officer in calculating the means of the claimants, but having regard to the value of the farm assigned, which contains sixty-three acres of good land and carried twenty-two head of cattle, the Board did not consider that the claimant and his wife were entitled to any pension. There is no authority for directing a revision of the case.