§ Mr. SHEEHYasked the Chief Secretary whether Patrick Lynch, Carrigaland, Mallow, has been refused an old age pension; whether it has been ascertained that he is over seventy years of age; whether the 976W local pension committee passed his claim four times; whether there are any grounds for holding that his transfer of his holding to his son has not been bonâ fide; if so, what are those grounds; and, if not, why is this man, who' is seventy-six years of age, denied his pension?
§ Mr. BIRRELLPatrick Lynch is over the statutory age, and appears to have made three claims. The first was allowed by the Mallow Rural Pension Sub-Committee, but on appeal by the pension officer was disallowed by the Local Government Board, who considered that the claimant's means, derived from a farm of seventy-one acres, well-stocked and cropped, exceeded the statutory limit. The second claim was disallowed by the Pension Sub-Committee, whose decision was confirmed by the Board when Lynch appealed to them. On the third claim the Sub-Committee awarded a pension of 5s. a week, which was disallowed by the Board on the appeal of the pension officer. After the disallowance of Lynch's first claim he assigned his farm to his eldest son; and, as there was no other special reason why he should have done so at that particular time, the Board considered that the assignment had been made with a view to obtaining a pension.
§ Mr. LONSDALEasked if it is the practice of the Local Government Board, in deciding appeals under the Old Age Pensions Act, to receive and use evidence reports which the claimant or pensioner has no opportunity of rebutting?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe only reports upon which the Local Government Board act are those furnished by their own inspectors after visiting the homes of the applicants and affording them an opportunity of personally stating their cases.
§ Mr. LUNDONasked the Chief Secretary whether the claim of Maurice Tobin, Ballinanima, Kilfinane, county Limerick, for a pension was passed on two occasions by the local committee, and whether, on appeal to the Local Government Board, the pension officer upset their decision; is he aware that Tobin's age could not be found in any of the Census Returns or on any register; whether the men who comprise the local pension committee, and who are fully satisfied that this man is beyond the age limit, are to be over-ruled by one who knows nothing whatever of this man's age; and will steps be taken to see that this man is no longer deprived of his pension?
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§ Mr. BIRRELLMaurice Tobin was twice granted a pension of 5s. a week by the Kilfinane Pension Sub-Committee, and on each occasion, on appeal by the pension officer, the Local Government Board disallowed the claim as no evidence of age was submitted. The onus of proof rests with the claimant, who must satisfy the pension authorities that he has attained the statutory age.
§ Mr. CRUMLEYasked the Chief Secretary whether he will explain why James Heney, of Market Street, Enniskillen, who it is certified, was born on 25th February, 1838, has been refused an old age pension?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Local Government Board upheld the appeal of the pension officer against the decision of the Fermanagh County Pension Committee to award James Heney a pension, on the ground that his means exceeded the statutory limit of £31 10s. per annum. Before arriving at their decision the Board had a careful inquiry made into the case by one of their inspectors.
Mr. KELLYasked the Chief Secretary if he will state on what grounds William Tinney, of Carrick, Castlefin, county Donegal, was deprived of his pension; and is he aware that Tinney's age is given as two years in the Census of 1841?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Local Government Board upheld the appeal of the pension officer on the ground that William Tinney was under the statutory age. The William Tinney whose age was recorded as two years in the Census of 1841 is shown by the Census Return of 1851 to have died in 1847. The claimant was only one year old in 1851.
Mr. KELLYasked the Chief Secretary whether James Crown, of Stranorlar, county Donegal, has been deprived of his pension; and, if so, on what grounds?
§ Mr. BIRRELLIn April, 1910, the Local Government Board upheld the appeal of the pension officer against a decision of the Stranorlar pension sub-committee awarding James Crown a pension of 5s. a week on the ground that there was no satisfactory evidence of the claimant having attained the statutory age. The Board are at present investigating a second claim which Crown has made.