Houses of the Oireachtas (Members) Pensions (Amendment) Scheme, 2001
Statutory Instruments
Source: Statutory Instruments

num: 1
paragraphs: This Scheme may be cited as the Houses of the Oireachtas (Members) Pensions (Amendment) Scheme, 2001.
num: 2
paragraphs: (1) This Scheme, except Clauses 4(c) and 6, is to be taken to have come into operation on 25 September 2000.
(2) Clause 4(c) of this Scheme is to be taken to have come into operation on 1 January 1997.
(3) Clause 6 of this Scheme is to be taken to have come into operation on 1 July 2001.
num: 3
paragraphs: In this Scheme -
“new Scheme” has the meaning given to it in clause 2 of the Houses of the Oireachtas (Members) Pensions (Amendment) (No. 2) Scheme, 1992 ( S.I. No. 354 of 1992 );
“Principal Scheme” means the Houses of the Oireachtas (Members) Pensions Scheme within the meaning of section 1 of the Oireachtas (Allowance to Members) and Ministerial and Pariamentary Offices (Amendment) Act, 1992 (No. 3 of 1992), as amended by the Houses of the Oireachtas (Members) Pensions (Amendment) Scheme, 1992 ( S.I. No. 300 of 1992 ), the Houses of the Oireachtas (Members) Pensions (Amendment) (No. 2) Scheme, 1992 ( S.I. No. 354 of 1992 ), the Houses of the Oireachtas (Members) Pensions (Amendment) Scheme, 1993 ( S.I. No. 111 of 1993 ), the Houses of the Oireachtas (Members) Pensions (Amendment) Scheme, 1997 ( S.I. No. 212 of 1997 ), the Houses of the Oireachtas (Members) Pensions (Amendment) Scheme, 1998 ( S.I. No. 75 of 1998 ), and the Houses of the Oireachtas (Members) Pensions (Amendment) (No. 2) Scheme, 1998 ( S.I. No. 373 of 1998 );
“old Scheme” has the meaning assigned to it in Clause 2 of the Houses of the Oireachtas (Members) Pensions (Amendment) (No. 2) Scheme, 1992 ( S.I. No. 354 of 1992 );
“operative date” has the meaning assigned to it in Clause 2 of the Houses of the Oireachtas (Members) Pensions (Amendment) (No. 2) Scheme, 1992 ( S.I. No. 354 of 1992 ).
num: 4
paragraphs: The Principal Scheme is amended in Clause 1 (1) -
(a) by deleting the definition of “Parliamentary Allowance”,
(b) by inserting the following:
“‘Parliamentary Allowance’ has the same meaning, subject to the same exceptions, as that given to ‘salary’;
‘salary’ means -
(a) in the case of a member of DÃ¡il Ãireann, a salary referred to in section 3 of the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) Act, 1938 (No. 34 of 1938),
(b) in the case of a member of Seanad Ãireann, a salary referred to in section 3 of the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) Act, 1938 ,
except in the following cases:
(i) where person who is a member of DÃ¡il Ãireann holds an office referred to in Part II of the Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices Act, 1938 , it means the annual salary payable to a member of DÃ¡il Ãireann who does not hold such an office and who has the same number of years service as a member of the Oireachtas as the member who holds the office,
(ii) where a person who is a member of Seanad Ãireann holds an office referred to in Part II of the Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices Act, 1938 , it means the annual salary payable to a member of Seanad Ãireann who does not hold such an office and who has the same number of years service as a member of the Oireachtas as the member who holds the office,
(iii) where a person ceased to be a member of the Oireachtas before 25 September 2000, it means the salary which is payable on or after that date to a serving member who has the same number of years cumulative service as a member of the Oireachtas, as the former member had at the date he or she ceased to be a member,
(iv) where a person's entitlement or where entitlement in respect of a person under this scheme is based partly on salary as a member of DÃ¡il Ãireann and partly on salary as a member of Seanad Ãireann -
(I) as regards any element of salary as a member of DÃ¡il Ãireann which is related to length of service, it means the salary payable to a member of DÃ¡il Ãireann who has the same length of service as a member of the Oireachtas as the person had at the date he or she ceased to be a member of DÃ¡il Ãireann, and
(II) as regards any element of salary as a member of Seanad Ãireann which is related to length of service, it means the salary payable to a member of Seanad Ãireann who has the same length of service as a member of the Oireachtas as the person had at the date he or she ceased to be a member of Seanad Ãireann.”;
(c) by substituting “22 years” for “21 years” in the definition of “appropriate age”.
num: 5
paragraphs: The new Scheme is amended -
(a) in Clause 1 (1), by adding the following paragraph to the definition of “reckonable service as a member of DÃ¡il Ãireann”:
“(f) six-tenths of a person's reckonable pensionable service as a member of the Northern Ireland House of Commons and the Northern Ireland Assembly, or either of those bodies, in accordance with the provisions of Northern Ireland enactments entitled the ‘Ministerial Salaries and Members Pensions Act (Northern Ireland), 1965’ and the ‘Assembly Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order, 1976’, provided that any transfer value payment in respect of such service, calculated in accordance with the Northern Ireland regulations entitled the ‘Occupational Pension Schemes (Transfer Values) Regulations (Northern Ireland), 1996’ or any amendment of those Regulations, is paid to the Trustees.”;
(b) in Clause 5D, by renumbering the existing provision as subclause (1), and by adding the following as subclause (2):
“(2) A married person who is a member may give notice in writing to the Trustees as to whether, in the event of his or her death as a member, he or she wishes the gratuity referred to in subclause (1) of this Clause to be paid to his or her surviving spouse (if any) or to his or her personal representative and the Trustees shall take such notice, or the most recent such notice received by them before the member's death in the event of more than one notice having been received from the member concerned, into consideration in the exercise of their discretion concerning to whom the gratuity is to be paid.”;
(c) by substituting the following for Clause 5I:
“5I. (1) Subject to subclauses (2) and (3) of this Clause, where a person who is, or was, paid a pension and gratuity under this Scheme later becomes a member of either house of the Oireachtas, any period of service in respect of which the gratuity was paid shall not be taken into account in calculating the amount of a gratuity under this scheme paid subsequently to the person.
(2) Where a person ceases to be a member of DÃ¡il Ãireann when DÃ¡il Ãireann is dissolved and becomes entitled to receive a salary as a member of Seanad Ãireann as from the day on which Seanad Ãireann first meets after the dissolution, and, on ceasing to be a member of DÃ¡il Ãireann, is paid a gratuity under this scheme, he or she may, within a period of 30 days commencing on his or her becoming a member of Seanad Ãireann, repay to the Trustees the gratuity and, if such repayment is made, the period in respect of which the gratuity was paid shall be reckonable for the purposes of this scheme.
(3) If a person referred to in subclause (1) of this Clause has been paid a gratuity under the old Scheme, the period of service in respect of which the early gratuity was paid may be taken into account in calculating a gratuity to be paid under this Scheme to the person, but the later gratuity shall be reduced by an amount equivalent to the lesser of -
(a) the amount of the early gratuity increased by compound interest at the rate of 6 per cent per year in respect of the period between the date of payment of the early gratuity and the date of payment of the later gratuity, or
(b) the amount arrived at by the following formula:
AR = A x
B
+ D x
E
C
F
where -
AR is the amount of the reduction,
A is the amount of the early gratuity which was calculated by reference to service as a member of DÃ¡il Ãireann,
B is the salary of a member of DÃ¡il Ãireann by reference to which the later gratuity is calculated,
C is the salary of a member of DÃ¡il Ãireann by reference to which the early gratuity was calculated,
D is the amount of the early gratuity which was calculated by reference to service as a member of Seanad Ãireann,
E is the salary of a member of Seanad Ãireann by reference to which the later gratuity is calculated, and
F is the salary of a member of Seanad Ãireann by reference to which the early gratuity was calculated.
(4) In this Clause -
‘early gratuity’ means a gratuity payable under the old Scheme;
‘later gratuity’ means a gratuity payable under the new Scheme.”.
num: 6
paragraphs: The old Scheme is amended by adding the following Clause after Clause 5E:
“5F. (1) A pension payable to a former member under Clause 5A(1) of this Scheme shall, if the former member concerned has reached 50 years of age, be calculated in accordance with the following formula:
PP =
A x B
+
C x D
40
40
where -
PP is the pension payable
A is the annual amount of the salary payable to a member of DÃ¡il Ãireann,
B is -
(a) the total number of years, if any, of the former member's service as a member of the Oireachtas referred to in Clause 5(1)(i) of this Scheme, or
(b) 20,
whichever is the smaller number,
C is the annual amount of the salary payable to a member of Seanad Ãireann,
and
D is -
(a) if the number of years for “B” is less than 20,
(i) the total number of years, if any, of the former member's service as a member of the Oireachtas referred to in Clause 5(1)(ii) of this Scheme, or
(ii) 20 less B,
whichever is the smaller number,
(b) if the number of years for “B” is 20, “nil”.
(2) A pension payable under Clause 5(10) of this Scheme to the surviving spouse of a former member to whom a pension was payable under subclause (1) of this Clause is to be calculated by reference to the pension payable to the former member in accordance with that subclause.
(3) A pension payable under Clause 5 (10) of this Scheme to the surviving spouse of a former member who was paid a pension under Clause 5A (1) of this Scheme and who -
(a) died before 1 July 2001, or
(b) dies on or after 1 July 2001, before reaching 50 years of age,
is to be calculated by reference to the pension that would have been payable to the former member if the pension had been calculated in accordance with the formula set out in subclause (1).
(4) A pension payable under Clause 5C (1)(b) of this Scheme to the surviving spouse of a former member is to be calculated by reference to the pension that would have been payable to the former member if, on the date of the member's death -
(a) the member had been in receipt of a pension calculated in accordance with the formula set out in subclause (1), and
(b) for the purposes of that calculation, the member's service as a member of the Oireachtas had included the period of service referred to in Clause 5C (1)(b)(i) of this Scheme.”.
num: 7
paragraphs: If Clause 5F of the old Scheme, added by Clause 6 of this Scheme, applies to a pension payable to or in respect of a person referred to in Clause 8 (1) of the Houses of the Oireachtas (Members) Pensions (Amendment) (No. 2) Scheme, 1992 ( S.I. No. 354 of 1992 ), the person's reckonable service that is used in the calculation of a pension payable under the new Scheme to or in respect of the person shall not exceed the number of days determined by the following formula:
( 1 -
A
) x 7,300
7,300
where -
A is -
(a) the number of days calculated by multiplying by 365 the number of years of the person's reckonable service prior to the operative date as determined in accordance with Clause 5(2) of the old Scheme, or
(b) 7,300,
whichever is the smaller number.