Pension Divide

Royal Irish Constabulary pension policy came before the House of Commons on 9 November 1916 in a form that carried clear relevance for Limerick, where the centrally administered force maintained personnel and barracks across city and county. During committee consideration of the Constabulary and Police (Ireland) Bill, Alfred Byrne, Member for Dublin Harbour, moved a new clause concerning former members not above the rank of head constable. He proposed that any alteration or increase in pension created by the measure should also extend to men who had retired since 1 January 1900, as though they had retired after the legislation was enacted.

The Bill altered pay scales for the Royal Irish Constabulary and Dublin Metropolitan Police while revising several pension and allowance provisions. One important change concerned the rule established under the 1883 legislation by which pension calculations could depend upon a constable’s average annual pay during the three years preceding retirement, death or incapacitating injury. The 1916 measure generally allowed actual annual pay at the relevant date to be considered instead, although exceptions remained for recent promotions and for able-bodied men retiring before 31 March 1919. Chief Secretary Henry Duke described the alteration during committee proceedings as a benefit rather than a reduction.

Byrne’s proposal attempted to carry that benefit backwards. The new clause stated that every relevant alteration should apply to eligible former constables who had retired during the period beginning on 1 January 1900. The clause was formally brought up and read for the first time, but Byrne was allowed only a few words of explanation. Duke immediately questioned whether the Bill could lawfully be extended to people who had already ceased to belong to the force. He warned that the proposal would have a considerable financial effect and argued that the measure had been designed for men then serving.

The Chairman ruled that the clause was outside the Bill’s proper scope and moved proceedings to Byrne’s next proposal. There was consequently no full discussion, division or decision upon the merits of retrospective pension improvement. The ruling left a clear distinction between serving constables, whose future pension calculations might benefit from the revised law, and men already receiving pensions fixed under earlier provisions. It also demonstrated how parliamentary procedure and Treasury liability could prevent a grievance from receiving detailed examination. Retired members were not declared undeserving; their position was simply excluded from the legislation being considered on that occasion.

No separate Limerick reaction to the ruling has been located, and the surviving evidence does not establish how many pensioners in the city or county would have qualified under Byrne’s proposed starting date. Royal Irish Constabulary pension registers, however, normally record recipients’ places of residence and provide a means of identifying individual local cases. The Constabulary and Police (Ireland) Act received Royal Assent on 22 December 1916 without the retrospective clause. The episode therefore left earlier pensioners under existing settlements while recording, in Parliament, a demand that improvements granted to serving policemen should not automatically exclude colleagues who had already completed their service.

1. House of Commons Debates, 9 November 1916, volume 87, “New Clause—Pensions of Retired Members of Royal Irish Constabulary”.
2. Constabulary and Police (Ireland) Act 1916, 6 & 7 Geo. V, chapter 59, sections 1 and 2, enacted 22 December 1916.
3. Constabulary and Police (Ireland) Act 1883, 46 & 47 Vict., chapter 14, section 3 and Second Schedule, article 14.
4. The National Archives, London, PMG 48, pensions and allowances to officers, men and staff of the Royal Irish Constabulary and their dependants, 1873–1925.