§ Mr. O'SHAUGHNESSYasked why Mrs. Margaret Casey, of Glensharrold, Ardagh, in the county of Limerick, has not received the old age pension, although the Glin sub-committee, on the 3rd May, 1911, granted it to her?
§ Mr. BIRRELLAn appeal has been made to the Local Government Board against the award of a pension to Mrs. Casey, and the case is at present under the consideration of the Board.
§ Mr. SHEEHANasked whether Jane Dennehy, of Tanyard, Millstreet, had her 629W claim to a pension allowed by the Mill street pension sub-committee on the 1st November, 1910; whether this decision was appealed from by the local pensions officer, who first informed her she was only sixty-four years of age, afterwards modifying this to sixty-nine years, and finally stating she was sixty-seven; was her claim disallowed on the grounds that she had not reached the statutory age, and how was this decision of the Local Government Board arrived at; and, inasmuch as Jane Dennehy produced a certificate from the clerk of the union showing she was placed on the outdoor relief list on 8th February, 1890, and that her age was then recorded as being fifty, and further that she can produce the affidavit of two respectable neighbours to prove she is now over seventy years, will he state whether her pension will be forthwith granted?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe pension officer appealed against the award of a pension to Jane Dennehy, but the Local Government Board have no information regarding the statements he is alleged to have made to her on the subject of her age. She was unable to furnish satisfactory evidence that she had attained the statutory age. Her parents' family was traced in both the Census returns, but her name did not appear in the 1841 Census, and she was returned as being four years old in 1851. These results were verified by means of a special search instituted by the Board in the Census returns. It is not open to the Board to reconsider their decision.
§ Mr. DORISasked the Chief Secretary upon what grounds the Local Government Board for Ireland have decided that Michael Heraty, of Mace North, Aughagower, Westport, is not entitled to an old age pension; and can he give the details of Heraty's alleged income as estimated by the local pension officer?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Local Government Board disallowed Heraty's claims as they considered that his means were in excess of the statutory limit. The value of his crops, grass, and turf is estimated by the Board at £15, and the amount realised by sale of stock £22. In addition, he had a, cow, calf, ass, and poultry.
§ Mr. GUINEYasked why Timothy Mahony, of Knockatoumpane, Tullylease, county Cork, has been deprived of his old age pension; whether the applicant is almost blind; and whether some of the oldest and most respectable farmers in the 630W district have made written statements that he is over seventy years of age and are prepared to verify their statements on oath?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Local Government Board have no information regarding the condition of Mahony's eyesight, but several farmers have made written statements on their belief that he is over seventy years of age. The pension of which he was in receipt was discontinued by the Kanturk Pension Sub-committee in June, 1910, on a question raised by the pension officer that Mahony was not the statutory age. The sub-committee disallowed a further claim on the same ground, and Mahony then appealed to the Board. His family was traced in the 1841 Census, but his name did not appear in it, and the pension officer reported that the claimant is the youngest of six children, three of whom were born prior to 1841, and the remainder subsequently. The Board accordingly confirmed the decision of the subcommittee on the ground that Mahony did not fulfil the statutory condition as to age.