§ Mr. LUNDONasked the Chief Secretary whether he is aware that Maurice Tobin, of Ballinanima, Kilfinane, was granted a pension by the local committee in March, 1910, and that an appeal was lodged by the pension officer on the grounds of insufficient evidence of age on behalf of applicant, and upheld by the Local Government Board; and, in view of the fact that this man had written statements of nine persons who certified that he was beyond the age, will steps be taken to secure a better administration of the law by those who are carrying out and working the Act on behalf of the Government?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe facts are as stated. The Court of King's Bench has held that if a claimant has not in fact reached the age of seventy the pension authorities have no power to award a pension. In this instance the statements of certain persons that they believed Maurice Tobin to be seventy years of age were not sufficient evidence that he had attained the statutory age.