First Previous (PART V. Amendment of the Acts in Relation to Special Allowances.) Next (FIRST SCHEDULE.)

23 1953

ARMY PENSIONS ACT, 1953

PART VI.

Miscellaneous.

Allowances to certain children of Signatories to the Proclamation published on Easter Monday, 1916.

45. —(1) There shall be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, on application being made to the Minister, an annual allowance of £125 to—

(a) each daughter of a Signatory to the Proclamation published on Easter Monday, 1916, and

(b) each son of such Signatory, where the Minister is satisfied that such son is incapable of self-support by reason of age or permanent infirmity of body or mind.

(2) Each allowance under subsection (1) of this section shall be payable monthly in arrear and shall commence on such date (not being earlier than the date of the passing of this Act) as the Minister may determine.

Amendment of section 9 of the Act of 1923.

46. —The Minister for Finance may from time to time and in respect of a specified period give, subject to such conditions as he may from time to time decide, and in respect of pensions, allowances and gratuities payable under any provision of the Acts or of this Act to which section 9 of the Act of 1923 applies, a general consent for the purpose of the said section 9.

Amendment of section 10 of the Act of 1927.

47. —Subsection (2) of section 10 of the Act of 1927 shall, as respects an officer who is discharged from the forces on or after the 2nd day of April, 1950, have effect as if, for the words inserted therein by paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section 3 of the Act of 1943, there were substituted the following—

“on the day preceding the date of his discharge, in the case of an officer, a married officer within the meaning of the Defence Force Regulations governing the pay of officers in force on the said day or in the case of a soldier, was, on the date of his discharge, in receipt of marriage allowance as a married soldier.”

Amendment of sections 10 and 12 of the Act of 1927.

48. —(1) Section 10 and section 12 of the Act of 1927 shall, in their application to an officer who is discharged from the forces on or after the date of the passing of this Act, have effect as if there were substituted for the Table contained in Part I of the Third Schedule to that Act the following Tables:

“Officer who was a married officer within the meaning of the Defence Force Regulations governing the pay of officers in force on the day before the day of his discharge from the forces.

Degree of Disablement

Scale of Pension

(1)

(2)

per cent.

100

48 per cent. of annual pay at the date of discharge.

90

43 per cent. of annual pay at the date of discharge.

80

39 per cent. of annual pay at the date of discharge.

70

34 per cent. of annual pay at the date of discharge.

60

29 per cent. of annual pay at the date of discharge.

50

24 per cent. of annual pay at the date of discharge.

40

19 per cent. of annual pay at the date of discharge.

30

14 per cent. of annual pay at the date of discharge.

20

10 per cent. of annual pay at the date of discharge.

Officer who was not a married officer within the meaning of the Defence Force Regulations governing the pay of officers in force on the day before the day of his discharge from the forces.

Degree of Disablement

Scale of Pension

(1)

(2)

per cent.

100

55 per cent. of annual pay at the date of discharge.

  90

50 per cent. of annual pay at the date of discharge.

  80

44 per cent. of annual pay at the date of discharge.

  70

39 per cent. of annual pay at the date of discharge.

  60

33 per cent. of annual pay at the date of discharge.

  50

28 per cent. of annual pay at the date of discharge.

  40

22 per cent. of annual pay at the date of discharge.

  30

17 per cent. of annual pay at the date of discharge.

  20

11 per cent. of annual pay at the date of discharge.

(2) Subsection (1) of section 6 and subsection (1) of section 8 of the Increase Act of 1949 shall not apply in respect of an officer to whom subsection (1) of this section applies.

Finality of award under section 12 of the Act of 1927.

49. —(1) Where an award of a gratuity under section 12 of the Act of 1927 in respect of a wound is made or an award of a pension or gratuity under that section in respect of a wound is refused, such award or the refusal of such award (as the case may be) shall, save as is otherwise provided by this section, be final and incapable of reconsideration or review.

(2) Any person to whom an award of a gratuity under section 12 of the Act of 1927 in respect of a wound is made on or after the date of the passing of this Act or any person to whom an award of a pension or gratuity under that section in respect of a wound is refused on or after the date of the passing of this Act solely on the ground that such person is not suffering from any disablement may, within five years from the date of such award or the refusal of such award (as the case may be), apply to the Minister to have the amount of such award or the refusal of such award (as the case may be) re-considered and thereupon the Minister, if he thinks proper so to do, may refer the matter to the Army Pensions Board for re-consideration and may, on the report of the Army Pensions Board, grant to such person such pension or gratuity (if any) as could have been granted if such report had been made when the case was first investigated under the said section 12, subject to the limitation that any pension so granted shall not commence on a date earlier than the date which is found by the Army Pensions Board to be the date on which the disablement in respect of which such pension is granted first attained to twenty per cent.

(3) Any person to whom an award of a gratuity under section 12 of the Act of 1927 in respect of a wound received on or after the 3rd day of September, 1939, was made before the date of the passing of this Act or any person to whom an award of a pension or gratuity under that section in respect of a wound received on or after the 3rd day of September, 1939, was refused before the date of the passing of this Act solely on the ground that such person was not suffering from any disablement may, within twelve months after the date of the passing of this Act, apply to the Minister to have the amount of such award or the refusal of such award (as the case may be) reconsidered and thereupon the Minister, if he thinks proper so to do, may refer the matter to the Army Pensions Board and may, on the report of the Army Pensions Board, grant to such person such pension or gratuity (if any) as could have been granted if such report had been made when the case was first investigated under the said section 12 subject to the limitation that any pension so granted shall commence on such date (not being earlier than the date of the passing of this Act or the date on which the disability is found by the Army Pensions Board to have reached twenty per cent. whichever is the later) as the Minister may determine.

Time limit for making certain applications under sections 14 and 15 of the Act of 1927.

50. —Notwithstanding anything contained in the Acts, every application for an allowance or a gratuity under subsection (2) of section 14 of the Act of 1927 in respect of a person who died solely from disease attributable to service in the forces during the emergency period, and every application for an allowance or a gratuity under subsection (2) of section 15 of the said Act in respect of a person who died as a result of a wound received on or after the 3rd day of September, 1939, shall be made—

(a) in case the person in respect of whom the gratuity or allowance is claimed died before the date of the passing of this Act, not later than twelve months after the date of such passing;

(b) in case such person died on or after the date of the passing of this Act, not later than twelve months after the date of such person's death.

Amendment of section 20 of the Act of 1932.

51. —Subsection (3) of section 20 of the Act of 1932 is hereby amended by the deletion of “(except subsection (4) thereof)”.

Power to grant further allowances under Part VII of the Act of 1937.

52. —(1) Where a person dies while in receipt of an allowance under Part VII of the Act of 1937, it shall be lawful for another dependent relative of the deceased person in respect of whom the allowance was payable to apply for and be granted an allowance under the said Part VII, provided the Minister and the Minister for Finance are satisfied that the statutory conditions for the grant of an allowance under the said Part VII are complied with.

(2) Every application for an allowance under Part VII of the Act of 1937, as amended by this section, shall be in such form and contain such particulars as the Minister may require, and shall be made—

(a) if the person who died while in receipt of an allowance died before the date of the passing of this Act, not later than twelve months after that date, and

(b) if such person died on or after the date of the passing of this Act, within twelve months after the date of the death of such person.

(3) Every allowance granted under Part VII of the Act of 1937 as amended by this section shall commence on such date (not being earlier than the date of the passing of this Act) as the Minister may determine.

Right of certain persons to re-apply under Part VII of the Act of 1937.

53. —(1) Notwithstanding subsection (2) of section 10 of the Act of 1941 it shall be lawful for the Minister, on application being made to him, to grant, to any person whose application for a dependant's allowance under Part VII of the Act of 1937 was refused solely on the ground that the applicant did not comply with the statutory condition regarding means, an allowance under the said Part VII provided the Minister and the Minister for Finance are satisfied that the statutory conditions for the grant of an allowance under the said Part VII are complied with.

(2) Every application for an allowance under Part VII of the Act of 1937 as amended by this Act shall be in such form and contain such particulars as the Minister may require and shall be made not later than twelve months after the date of the passing of this Act.

(3) Every allowance granted under Part VII of the Act of 1937 as amended by this Act shall commence on such date (not being earlier than the date of the passing of this Act) as the Minister may determine.

Amendment of section 40 of the Act of 1937.

54. —The reference in subsection (2) of section 40 of the Act of 1937 to fifteen shillings a week shall be construed as a reference to sixty pounds per annum.

Amendment of section 5 of the Act of 1946.

55. —Subsection (3) of section 5 of the Act of 1946 shall, as respects an officer who is discharged from the forces on or after the 2nd day of April, 1950, have effect as if, in paragraph (c), for the words “at the date of his discharge, in the case of an officer, either in occupation of married quarters or in receipt of lodging, fuel and light allowance as a married officer, or in the case of a soldier, in receipt of marriage allowance as a married soldier, or” the following were substituted:

“on the day preceding the date of his discharge, in the case of an officer, a married officer within the meaning of the Defence Force Regulations governing the pay of officers in force on the said day or in the case of a soldier, was on the date of his discharge in receipt of marriage allowance as a married soldier, or”.

Restriction of section 6 of the Act of 1946.

56. —Section 6 of the Act of 1946 shall not apply in relation to an officer who is discharged from the forces on or after the 2nd day of April, 1950.

Declaration as to pension under section 12 of the Act of 1946.

57. —For the removal of doubt it is hereby declared that a pension granted under section 12 of the Act of 1946 shall be deemed for the purposes of sub-section (3) of section 47 of the Act of 1937, to be a pension under the Acts.

Validation of pension.

58. —In the case of a person who was, on the 27th day of January, 1943, granted, under section 10 of the Act of 1932, a gratuity in respect of a wound, and who applied to the Minister on the 10th day of March, 1948, to have the amount of the award reconsidered, the following provisions shall have effect:

(a) notwithstanding subsection (2) of section 18 of the Act of 1932, the pension granted to that person under the said section 10 shall be deemed to have been a valid grant of pension;

(b) where, after the passing of this Act, a pension under the said section 10 is payable to that person, such pension shall be payable from such date as the Minister may determine but such date shall not be earlier than the date of the passing of this Act.