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| Reference |
DOD/3/13070 Part 2
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| Title |
Pensions: Military Service Pensions Act, 1949-Administration (General)
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| Scope and Content |
File was opened on 24 November 1961 and continues (See 3/13070 Part 1) the administrative dealings of the Minister for Defence and the Department with representations and grievances from veterans and members of Old IRA Associations.
The correspondence deals mainly with dissatisfaction over unsuccessful cases for the award of Service Pensions, political representations made in individual cases, appeals for a re-examination of the Military Service Pensions Acts and latterly information furnished for reply relating to these and other related matters which were tabled as motions for discussion at various Fianna Fail Ard-Fheisanna (Conventions), commencing with the Ard Fheis of 29 Deireadh Fomhair (October) 1958, and County or Urban Council meetings.
File includes memorandum from the Finance Officer (S O’Cearnaigh) in which he states ‘…the last thing they [applicants] will admit is that their case was not good enough to succeed” and that “…much of the trouble in connection with military service pensions is due to the fact that the unsuccessful “litigants” are organised’. The number of applicants (petitions and new cases) whose applications were found to be unsuccessful under the 1949 Act is given as 18, 475, (4pp dated 17 Iuil (July) 1957). A subsequent letter from the Secretary (McMahon) to the Minister (Boland) agrees with the Finance Officers comments and recommends “that when the Referee deals with the cases before him the matter should be brought to a conclusion”. Letter notated “Minister agrees” (1 p dated 16 December 1957).
File includes cutting from the front page of the Sunday Independent of March 15 1959 with an article headlined “Government plans a new pension law” and a cutting from the Irish Independent of 17 March 1959 stating “There is no truth whatever in this report”. Also included are handwritten notes and an unsigned letter in handwriting addressed to An Runai (Secretary) in which the author details the results of his “fullest possible investigation into the leakage from this Branch of the fact that figures had been prepared regarding the retrospective payment of pensions awarded under the MSP Act, 1949……..already with an tAire (Minister)” (14pp undated).
Copy letter from the Department of Finance to Secretary Department of Defence deals with the matter of payment of arrears of military service pensions to persons whose pension had never been paid or has been discontinued and to deceased pensioners.1p dated 26 Meitheamh (June), 1968. An attached memorandum outlines the “increases in Military Service Pensions” covering the years 1953 to 1987 (1p undated).
A handwritten list contains the account number, name and address of “Survivors of 1916 Rising who were in receipt of pensions under the Military Service Pension’s Acts, 1924 and 1934” on 30 November 1981. The list is updated on 20 August 1985 to the effect that there are “57 left” (5pp 20 August 1985).
Also includes computer printouts “Analysis of Military Service Pension-Acts, 1924 and 1934” showing the total number of cases under each Act at the time of generation and the number receiving payments under sums ranging from £600-£699, increasing in 9 bands up to £5,000 or over (11pp from 24 September 1981 to 7 November 1986).
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