§ Mr. FRANCIS MEEHANasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he is aware that Francis Whelan, of Aughacashel, Drumshanbo, county Leitrim, was granted an old age pension by the No. 1 Carrick-on-Shannon subcommittee in July, 1900, which was, on appeal by the pension officer, disallowed on the ground that his family could not be traced in the Census of 1841 or 1851; and whether, having regard to the fact that Whelan produced sworn testimony from four respectable persons, who were from eighty to eighty-six years of age, that he was seventy-three years old, the Local Government Board will reconsider his claim, and, as his personal appearance is that of a man of eighty years of age, grant him a pension?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Local Government Board disallowed Francis Whelan's claim on appeal on the ground that he failed to produce satisfactory evidence that he had attained the statutory age. The Board are no longer in possession of the documents connected with the claim, and are consequently unable to state now what evidence Whelan produced in September, 1909, when the case was decided. The Beard have no authority to reconsider their decision, unless a fresh claim is lodged and appealed against.