Army Pensions Act, 1927

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR No. 12/1927

Number 12 of 1927.
ARMY PENSIONS ACT, 1927.
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
Section 1. Definitions. 2. Construction of certain expressions. 3. Amendments of the Principal Act. 4. Alterations of scales under Principal Act in certain cases. 5. Establishment of Army Pensions Board. 6. Temporary incapacity of member of Army Pensions Board. 7. Reference of applications to Army Pensions Board. 8. Assessment of degree of disability. 9. Disability pensions in certain cases. 10. Disability pensions in certain other cases. 11. Wound pensions and gratuities in certain cases. 12. Wound pensions and gratuities in certain other cases. 13. Disability pensions in certain special cases. 14. Allowances and gratuities to dependants in certain cases. 15. Allowances and gratuities to dependants in certain other cases. 16. Accounting for ex gratia allowances in certain cases. 17. Form of application for pension, etc. 18. Time limit for claims for pensions, etc. 19. Renewal of applications refused under Principal Act. 20. Prohibition of double pensions. 21. Travelling expenses and subsistence allowances. 22. Definition of “married man.” 23. Application of pensions in certain cases. 24. Double disablement. 25. Conditions attaching to pensions. 26. Application of certain sections of the Principal Act. 27. Regulations. 28. Short title and citation.
FIRST SCHEDULE.
SECOND SCHEDULE.
THIRD SCHEDULE.
FOURTH SCHEDULE.
FIFTH SCHEDULE.
SIXTH SCHEDULE.
SEVENTH SCHEDULE.
Acts Referred to Army Pensions Act, 1923 No. 26 of 1923
Number 12 of 1927.
ARMY PENSIONS ACT, 1927.
AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE PAYMENT OF PENSIONS, ALLOWANCES, AND GRATUITIES IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES TO DISABLED MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES OF SAORSTÁT EIREANN, AND CERTAIN OTHER MILITARY ORGANIZATIONS, AND FOR THE PAYMENT OF ALLOWANCES AND GRATUITIES IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES TO DEPENDANTS OF DECEASED MEMBERS OF THE SAID FORCES AND ORGANIZATIONS, AND TO AMEND AND EXTEND THE ARMY PENSIONS ACT, 1923 , AND TO MAKE PROVISION FOR DIVERS MATTERS CONNECTED WITH THE SEVERAL MATTERS AFORESAID. [30th April, 1927.]
BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS OF SAORSTÁT EIREANN AS FOLLOWS:—
	Definitions.	1.—In this Act—
	the expression “the Principal Act” means the Army Pensions Act, 1923 (No. 26 of 1923);
	the expression “the Minister” means the Minister for Defence;
	the expression “degree of disablement” when used in relation to a disablement caused by disease means the degree of disablement assessed in respect of such disablement by the Army Pensions Board;
	the expression “minimum degree of disablement” means eighty per cent. degree of disablement;
	the expression “military service” when used in reference to a person who was a member of the Irish Volunteers or of the Irish Citizen Army means whenever such member was on duty, or was under arrest as the result of his activities as such member, or was evading capture or pursuit by the armed forces of the British Government, or was detained in a prison or internment camp by or by order of the British Government;
	the word “wound” means an interruption of the normal continuity of body tissue caused by direct or indirect violence but does not include any injury due to the serious negligence or misconduct of the person suffering therefrom;
	the word “disablement” means any injury of a permanent nature resulting in impairment of function caused by wound or disease and not due to the serious negligence or misconduct of the person suffering therefrom; and
	other expressions and words which are also used in the Principal Act as amended by this Act shall, if not otherwise defined in this Act, have the same meanings respectively as such expressions and words have respectively in the Principal Act as so amended.
	Construction of certain expressions.	2.—(1) The expression “discharged from the forces” when used in the Principal Act or in this Act in relation to an officer shall include and, when so used in the Principal Act, shall be deemed always to have included the demobilisation of such officer and, in the case of an officer holding a commission, the with-drawal of his commission for any reason, and the noun “discharge” when used as aforesaid shall be and be deemed always to have been construed accordingly.
	(2) The word “killed” when used in the Principal Act or in this Act shall include and, when used in the Principal Act, shall be deemed always to have included death by drowning.
	Amendments of the Principal Act.	3.—The Principal Act shall be construed and have effect as if the sections and sub-sections thereof mentioned in the first column of the First Schedule to this Act were respectively amended in the manner set out in the second column of that Schedule opposite each such section and sub-section respectively.
	Alterations of scales under Principal Act in certain cases.	4.—(1) In the case of an officer who is discharged from the forces on or after the 1st day of October, 1924 (whether before or after the passing of this Act) and to whom a wound pension could be granted on such discharge under the Principal Act as amended by this Act, that Act as so amended shall apply to such officer as if the scales of pensions contained in the Third Schedule to this Act were inserted in the Principal Act in lieu of the scales of pensions contained in the First Schedule to that Act.
	(2) In the case of those persons who signed the Proclamation published on Easter Monday in the year 1916 in connection with the rising of April and May of that year and in respect of whom the Minister may give or shall have given certificates under section 8 of the Principal Act, the Second Schedule to the Principal Act shall as from the passing of this Act apply and have effect as if the respective amounts of the several allowances and gratuities specified in that Schedule were double the amounts actually specified therein.
	Establishment of Army Pensions Board.	5.—(1) There shall be established a board to be called the Army Pensions Board, which shall consist of a chairman and two ordinary members.
	(2) The two ordinary members of the Army Pensions Board shall be duly qualified medical practitioners of whom one, but only one, shall be an officer of the Army Medical Service.
	(3) The chairman of the Army Pensions Board and the ordinary member of that Board who is not an officer of the Army Medical Service shall be appointed by the Minister with the concurrence of the Minister for Finance and the ordinary member of the said Board who is an officer of the Army Medical Service shall be appointed by the Minister.
	(4) Every member of the Army Pensions Board shall hold office during the pleasure of the Minister, but no member appointed with the concurrence of the Minister for Finance shall be removed from office without the concurrence of that Minister.
	(5) There may be paid, out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, to any member of the Army Pensions Board such fees or remuneration as the Minister for Finance may determine.
	(6) The Minister may with the consent of the Minister for Finance make rules regulating the functions and procedure of the Army Pensions Board.
	(7) The Army Pensions Board may for the purpose of carrying out the duties imposed on them by this Act make all such inquiries, summon all such witnesses, and take such evidence on oath (which they are hereby empowered to administer) or otherwise, as they may deem necessary.
	Temporary incapacity of member of Army Pensions Board.	6.—(1) Whenever the chairman or an ordinary member of the Army Pensions Board is through ill-health or other sufficient cause temporarily incapacitated from performing his duties as such chairman or member, the Minister may, if he so thinks fit, appoint another person to be chairman or an ordinary member (as the case may be) of the Army Pensions Board in the place of the chairman or ordinary member so incapacitated for so long as such incapacity continues.
	(2) Every person appointed under this section in the place of an ordinary member of the Army Pensions Board shall possess the same qualifications as are required by this Act to be possessed by the ordinary member in whose place he is so appointed.
	(3) No appointment under this section of a person in the place of the chairman of the Army Pensions Board or of the ordinary member of the said Board who is not an officer of the Army Medical Service shall be made without the concurrence of the Minister for Finance.
	Reference of applications to Army Pensions Board.	7.—(1) Every application for the grant of a pension, gratuity, or allowance under the Principal Act which is pending at the date of the passing of this Act and every application for the grant of a pension, gratuity, or allowance under the Principal Act as amended by this Act or under this Act (save as is hereinafter otherwise provided) shall be referred by the Minister to the Army Pensions Board.
	(2) The Army Pensions Board shall report to the Minister in the prescribed form on every application referred to them under this section and for the purpose of such report shall cause every such application to be investigated in such manner as shall be prescribed by regulations made under this Act with the consent of the Minister for Finance.
	(3) No application for a pension, allowance, or gratuity under this Act which is based on a wound received on or after the 1st day of October, 1924, or on the death of a person killed on or after that date shall be referred to the Army Pensions Board.
	Assessment of degree of disability.	8.—(1) Whenever the...