§ Mr. BECKERasked the Minister of Pensions the cost of the Ministry of 2030W Pensions Office in Dublin for the last annual period; and, with a view to winding up this Department, will he recommend that all pensioners in Ireland should be awarded a permanent pension for life?
Mr. MUIRThe annual cost of the Ministry establishment in the Irish Free State is approximately £72,000. I should explain that during the last financial year the awarding work formerly done in Dublin was transferred to London, and the figure quoted refers to the cost of local administration, including medical fees and travelling expenses of pensioners. In regard to the last part of the question, it is the policy of the Ministry to make final awards wherever this course is justified by the pensioner's condition, but I am afraid that it is not practicable, nor would it be in the pensioners' best interest, to make final awards automatically as suggested. In any event, the granting of permanent pensions would not obviate the necessity for local offices to afford the necessary facilities in matters of treatment, widows' and dependants' pensions, and other matters which are quite separate from awards.