Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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339. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the details of all services, grants, loans and payments available to individuals or households funded by his Department and agencies under his remit; the eligibility requirements and any conditionality for receiving the service, grant, loan or payment (details supplied); and the monetary value, or range of values, of the service, grant, loans or payment, where applicable. [19168/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The only relevant payment administered by my Department is a disability pension or gratuity, which can be applied for by a member of the Defence Forces on retirement.

The application is subject to a medical assessment by the Army Pensions Board, and, where an applicant is found to have a disablement attributable to military service, a disability pension or gratuity may be payable under the Army Pensions Acts. The rates of pension or gratuity are set out in the Acts and depend on various factors including the degree of disablement.

In addition where an award is made under the Army Pensions Acts, there may be provision for the supply and maintenance of medical appliances and supply of medication that are in line with the pensionable disablement.

The Army Pensions Board is a statutory independent Board appointed to investigate disability applications under the Army Pensions Acts. The Board consists of a Chairman and two ordinary members (two doctors) and generally meets between two and three times a month. The Chairman and one doctor are civilians and the other member is a serving military doctor.

The Board’s principal function is to investigate applications for pensions, allowances and gratuities under the 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 Department of Defence. The Department acts on the Board’s findings, including the grant or refusal of appropriate benefits.