S.I. No. 110/1954:

ARMY PENSIONS (EXPENSES AND ALLOWANCES) REGULATIONS, 1954.

ARMY PENSIONS (EXPENSES AND ALLOWANCES) REGULATIONS, 1954.

I, OSCAR TRAYNOR, Minister for Defence, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 20 of the Army Pensions Act, 1932 (No. 24 of 1932), sections 33 and 45 of the Army Pensions Act, 1937 (No. 15 of 1937) and section II of the Army Pensions Act, 1953 (No. 23 of 1953), and of every and any other power me in this behalf enabling, hereby, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, testified by his signature hereto, make the following regulations :--

1. These regulations may be cited as the Army Pensions (Expenses and Allowances) Regulations, 1954.

2. The Interpretation Act, 1937 (No. 38 of 1937), applies to these regulations.

3. In these regulations--

" the Act of 1932 " means the Army Pensions Act, 1932 (No. 24 of 1932) ;

" the Act of 1937 " means the Army Pensions Act, 1937 (No. 15 of 1937) ;

" the Act of 1953 " means the Army Pensions Act, 1953 (No. 23 of 1953) ;

" the Minister " means the Minister for Defence ;

" the Pensions Board " means the Army Pensions Board ;

" the Registration Board " means the Military Service Registration Board.

4. The amounts of the payments for travelling expenses and subsistence allowances which may be made by the Minister out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas to the following persons, namely--

(a) applicants for pensions, allowances or gratuities, as the case may be, under Part II of the Act of 1932, section 29 and Part VII of the Act of 1937, and Part II of the Act of 1953, and witnesses attending before the Registration Board pursuant to a summons by that Board, and

(b) applicants for such pensions, allowances or gratuities when attending for medical examination by direction of the Pensions Board and persons attending as witnesses before the Pensions Board pursuant to a summons by the Board, exercising functions under the Act of 1932, the Act of 1937 or the Act of 1953,

and the circumstances in which and the conditions under which such payments may be made shall be as follows :

Travelling Expenses.

(I) such applicants and witnesses will as a general rule be expected to travel by train or omnibus wherever available and by whichever of the said means of public transport is the cheaper ;

(II) where public transport is available, payments may be made as follows, that is to say--

(i) in the case of travel by rail--

Applicants--third class return fare,

Witnesses

professional--first class return fare,

non-professional--third class return fare ;

(ii) in the case of travel by omnibus--applicants and witnesses--fares paid.

(III) where public conveyance is not available for the whole or any part of a journey which an applicant or witness is obliged to travel, or the Minister considers that the circumstances of the case were such as to warrant the non-user of public conveyance, reasonable travelling expenses may be allowed.

Every claim under this head in respect of hired transport where the amount claimed exceeds 5s. shall be supported by vouchers.

Subsistence Allowances.

(a) Where the period of necessary absence from home is seven hours or more, and less than ten hours, subsistence allowances will be paid at the following rates :--

(b) Where the period of necessary absences from home is ten hours or more, and less than twenty-four hours, subsistence allowance will be paid at the following rates :--

(c) Where the period of necessary absence from home is twenty-four hours or more, subsistence allowance will be paid at the following rates for each completed period of twenty-four hours :--

together with, in the case of any broken time (not being less than seven hours) over and above twenty-four hours or a multiple thereof, extra subsistence allowance for such broken time in accordance with whichever of the scales (a) or (b) is appropriate.

5. Where in any particular case an applicant is by direction of the Pensions Board detained in a Military Hospital for the purpose of undergoing a medical examination there by direction of the Pensions Board, and subsistence allowance could be paid under the foregoing paragraph, so much of such subsistence allowance as bears to the whole of such subsistence allowance the same proportion as the period of such detention bears to the entire period in respect of which such subsistence allowance was payable, shall be appropriated towards the maintenance of such applicant in such Military Hospital during such detention.

6. The Minister may, with the sanction of the Minister for Finance, defray out of moneys to be provided by the Oireachtas the funeral expenses of any person to whom a pension is granted under section 10 of the Act of 1932, who dies in any hospital, nursing home, or like institution while detained therein by direction of the Minister for the purpose of undergoing any medical examination or treatment or surgical operation in accordance with the following provisions--

(a) where the body is taken charge of by a relative and the burial undertaken by such relative the following charges may be defrayed :--

(i) the reasonable cost of transportation of the body from the place of death either to a church and hence to a relative's house or to a relative's house direct, and

(ii) other incidental expenses based on the ordinary charges of an undertaker within a limit of twenty pounds, subject to the provision that where the Minister provides a coffin the said limit shall be reduced by an amount equal to the cost of such coffin, or

(b) where the body is not taken charge of by a relative, the following charges may be defrayed :--

(i) the reasonable cost of transportation of the body from the place of death either to a church and thence to the place of burial or to the place of burial direct,

(ii) the cost of a coffin, grave space, opening of grave, fee to the sexton, and offering to the officiating clergyman, and

(iii) the cost of one mourning coach for relatives.

7. The Army Pensions (Expenses and Allowances) Regulations, 1933 ( S. R. & O. No. 184 of 1933 ), are hereby revoked.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 19th day of May, 1954.

(Signed) OSCAR TRAYNOR,

Minister for Defence.

I consent to the foregoing regulations.

(Signed) SEÁN MacENTEE,

Minister for Finance.