Army Pensions Act, 1923

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR No. 26/1923
• Year: 1923

Number 26.
ARMY PENSIONS ACT, 1923.
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
Section 1. Wounded officers and soldiers may be granted wound pensions. 2. Extra pensions to married men. 3. Certain other persons may be granted wound pensions. 4. Date on which wound pension is to commence. 5. Supply of medical appliances and provision of vocational training. 6. Minister to make Regulations in respect of wound pensions. 7. Allowances may be granted to dependants of deceased officers and soldiers. 8. Allowances may be granted to dependants of certain other deceased persons. 9. Mode of granting pensions, etc. 10. Prohibition of assignment of pensions and allowances. 11. Forfeiture of pensions and allowances. 12. Summary penalty for false declaration. 13. Exclusion of cases otherwise compensated. 14. No pension receivable until money voted by the Oireachtas. 15. Regulations to be laid before Oireachtas. 16. Definitions. 17. Short Title.
FIRST SCHEDULE
SECOND SCHEDULE
THIRD SCHEDULE
Number 26.
ARMY PENSIONS ACT, 1923.
AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE PAYMENT OF WOUND PENSIONS TO WOUNDED MEMBERS OF OGLAIGH NA HEIREANN, INCLUDING THE ARMY AND THE IRISH VOLUNTEERS AND ALSO OF THE IRISH CITIZEN ARMY, 1916, AND FOR THE PAYMENT OF ALLOWANCES AND GRATUITIES TO THE WIDOWS, CHILDREN AND DEPENDANTS OF DECEASED MEMBERS OF OGLAIGH NA HEIREANN, INCLUDING THE ARMY AND THE IRISH VOLUNTEERS, AND ALSO OF THE IRISH CITIZEN ARMY, 1916, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES CONNECTED THEREWITH. [24th July, 1923.]
BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS OF SAORSTÁT EIREANN AS FOLLOWS:—
	Wounded officers and soldiers may be granted wound pensions.	1.—(1) Every officer and every soldier who is discharged from the forces as medically unfit for further service and who is suffering from any of the disablements mentioned in the first column of the First Schedule of this Act may, if such disablement is due to a wound received on or after the 1st day of April, 1922, be granted, subject to the provisions of this Act, a wound pension at the rate mentioned in the appropriate column of the said First Schedule opposite to the degree of his disablement mentioned in the first column of that Schedule.
	(2) Every officer and every soldier who is discharged from the forces as medically unfit for further service and who is suffering from any disablement not mentioned in the first column of the First Schedule to this Act may, if such disablement is due to a wound received on or after the 1st day of April, 1922, be granted, subject to the provisions of this Act, a wound pension at the rate mentioned in the appropriate column of the said First Schedule opposite the degree of disablement mentioned in the said first column of that Schedule which most closely corresponds to the disablement from which such officer or soldier is suffering as aforesaid.
	(3) Every officer and soldier who is discharged from the forces as medically unfit for further service, and who is suffering from a disablement, due to a wound received on or after the 1st day of April, 1922, but less in degree than any of the disablements mentioned in the first column of the First Schedule to this Act, may be granted a gratuity of such amount, not exceeding, in the case of an officer £100, or in the case of a soldier £60, as the Minister, having regard to all the circumstances of such officer or soldier, shall, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, determine.
	(4) This section applies to officers and soldiers who were so discharged as aforesaid before the passing of this Act as well as to officers and soldiers who shall be so discharged after the passing of this Act.
	Extra pensions to married men.	2.—(1) Whenever and so long as any officer or soldier to whom a wound pension is granted under this Act is a married man, a further pension at a rate not exceeding the rate mentioned in the appropriate column of the First Schedule to this Act opposite the rate of wound pension of which such officer or soldier is for the time being in receipt, may be granted to such officer or soldier during the continuance of his wound pension.
	(2) An officer or soldier shall not be considered to be a married man for the purposes of this section unless he was married before the day on which he received his wound, and he shall be considered to cease to be a married man for the purpose of this section on the death of his wife or the lawful annulment or dissolution of his marriage save that an officer or soldier shall be deemed to continue to be a married man for the purposes of this section for so long after the death of his wife or the dissolution or annulment of his marriage as he has any child living who in the case of an officer is a son under the age of 18 or a daughter under the age of 21, or in the case of a soldier is a son under the age of 16 or a daughter under the age of 18.
	(3) The further pension granted to an officer or soldier under this section may, if and whenever and for so long as the Minister so directs, in lieu of being paid to such officer or soldier be paid to his wife or applied for the maintenance, education or benefit of his child or of all or any of his children.
	Certain other persons may be granted wound pensions.	3.—(1) If the Minister certifies that any person who is suffering from any disablement due to a wound received before the 1st day of April, 1922, was at the time at which he received such wound a member of the Irish Volunteers or of the Irish Citizen Army and received such wound while performing his duty as such member, such person may be granted the like wound pension or gratuity and, if a married man, the like further pension as he would be entitled to under this Act if he had received such wound after the 1st day of April, 1922, and was an officer or a soldier discharged from the forces as medically unfit for further service.
	(2) For the purpose of determining the rate of the wound pension and further pension (if any) or the amount of the gratuity to be granted to any person under this section such person shall be deemed to have held the rank in the forces which shall be certified by the Minister to correspond most closely to the rank held by such person in the Irish Volunteers or the Irish Citizen Army (as the case may be): Provided, however, that all such persons who received a wound in the rising of April and May, 1916, shall be deemed to rank as officers.
	Date on which wound pension is to commence.	4.—(1) Save as is otherwise provided in this section a wound pension shall commence on the date on which the officer or soldier to whom the same is granted was discharged from the forces.
	(2) Where an officer or soldier was discharged from the forces before the passing of this Act and has since his discharge been in receipt of any allowance from the Minister whether for himself or his dependants, the wound pension payable to such officer or soldier shall commence on the date on which such allowance has ceased or shall cease.
	(3) Any wound pension granted to a person who was wounded before the 1st day of April, 1922, shall commence on the 1st day of April, 1922, unless such person became a member of the forces and was discharged therefrom after the 1st day of April, 1922, in which case the pension shall commence from the date of his discharge from the forces.
	Supply of medical appliances and provision of vocational training.	5.—(1) The Minister may from time to time supply with the consent of the Minister for Finance to any officer or soldier to whom a wound pension (whether temporary or permanent) has been granted under this Act such artificial limbs, crutches, special boots and other similar appliances as his case may require and may provide for the repair and renewal of any such appliances.
	(2) The Minister may with the consent of the Minister for Finance provide for any officer or soldier to whom a wound pension (whether temporary or permanent) has been granted under this Act such vocational training either free of charge or at a reduced charge as such officer or soldier shall apply for and the Minister shall consider suitable to his case.
	Minister to make Regulations in respect of wound pensions.	6.—(1) The Minister may from time to time make Regulations for the medical examination and periodical re-examination of officers and soldiers who are or claim to be entitled to wound pensions under this Act.
	(2) The Regulations made under this section shall provide that unless and until the disablement has reached its final condition no final grant of a wound pension shall be made to any officer or soldier within two years after the first grant of a wound pension to such officer or soldier.
	Allowances may be granted to dependants of deceased officers and soldiers.	7.—(1) The allowances and gratuities respectively specified in the second and third schedules to this Act may be granted to the widow, children, dependants and partial dependants of any officer or soldier—
	(a) who has been or shall be killed on or after the 1st day of April, 1922, in the course of his duty while on active service, provided the death of the officer or soldier was not due to any serious negligence or misconduct by such office or soldier; or
	(b) who has or shall have received a wound on or after the 1st day of April 1922 and has or shall have died within three years after having received such wound, provided the death of the officer or soldier was solely due to such wound.
	(2) Every allowance granted under this section shall commence from the date of the death of the deceased officer or soldier in respect of whom the same is payable or from such later date as the Minister shall in any particular case appoint.
	(3) No person to whom an...