§ Sir J. POWERasked the Minister of Labour whether he can furnish any estimate of the extent to which the grant of contributory old age pensions at the age of 65 has reduced the number of persons over that age seeking employment?
§ Mr. E. BROWNI regret that there are no statistics which would provide a1240W satisfactory basis for estimates on this subject.
Mr. T. MORRISasked the Minister of Health how many men and women in the last 12 months failed to notify their claim for old age pension directly on the 65th birthday being reached; and in how many cases applications for payment of arrears were subsequently made?
§ Sir K. WOODI regret that the information asked for in the first part of the question is not available, but I should explain that a claim for old age pension may be made at any time from a date four months before the 65th birthday, and a large proportion of the claims are made in advance. Where the claim is not made until after the 65th birthday the Acts provide that arrears are to be paid in full if the claim is made within three months after the 65th birthday; where the claim is delayed for more than three months, three months arrears are payable. As regards the second part of the question, I am unable to state the number of cases in which applications for unpaid arrears, that is, arrears in excess of three months, are made, but the number is insignificant.