Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

345. To ask the Minister for Defence the reason a person (details supplied) has been before the Army Pensions Board four times to ascertain an entitlement to a pension and to assess that person's level of disability, while, as yet, no payment has been made. [33331/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Army Pensions Board is an independent statutory Board appointed to investigate disability applications under the Army Pensions Acts and to report to the Minister thereon. The Board determines the question of attributability to military service in each case; assesses the degree of disability; and reports its findings to the Minister, who acts on this report and decides whether it is in order to make an award. Under the relevant Regulations the Minister may refer the report back to the Board for further consideration on such points as the Minister may consider necessary, and the Board shall reconsider such points and return the report to the Minister.

The applicant in this case was examined by the Army Pensions Board on one occasion only, in June 2015. Clarification was however required in relation to some matters and so the case had to be referred back to the Board on a number of occasions. My Department expects to receive the written report of the Board by the end of this week. The applicant will be written to in the near future and advised of the decision regarding his application.

I should mention that if the applicant is awarded a disability pension, Section 13(2) of the Army Pensions Act, 1923 will apply as he has received compensation for an injury which forms part of his disability pension application. Section 13(2) provides that any alternative compensation received by an applicant under the Army Pensions Acts may be taken into consideration in fixing the level of disability pension that might otherwise be awarded for the same injury.