Dairy Produce (Miscellaneous Provision) Act, 1973

Superannuation of officers and servants of Society.

7.—(1) As soon as may be after the passing of this Act, the Society shall, subject to subsection (2) of this section, prepare a scheme for the granting of pensions, gratuities and other allowances on retirement or death to or in respect of such officers or servants of the Society as it may think fit.

(2) The Society shall include in a superannuation or pensions scheme prepared by it the following provisions namely:

(a) provisions for the reckoning as pensionable service for the purposes of the scheme of any service which was reckon-able in computing benefit pursuant to a scheme of the Board,

(b) provisions whereby every person who transferred to the service of the Society on the 1st day of February, 1973, and who immediately before that day was entitled to benefit under a scheme of the Board and every person who, though employed by the Board was not so employed immediately before the said 1st day of February, is entitled to benefit under any such scheme shall be entitled to corresponding benefit under the requirements of the scheme prepared by the Society on terms not less favourable than those under the scheme of the Board,

(c) provisions whereby any person who was on the 1st day of February, 1973, by reason of the membership, or entitlement to benefit, of another person under a scheme of the Board, entitled to benefit thereunder, shall be entitled to a corresponding benefit under the scheme prepared by the Society on terms not less favourable than those under the scheme of the Board, and

(d) provisions whereby an officer or servant of the Board who was entitled to reckon service as a pensionable officer or pensionable servant of a local authority for the purposes of a scheme of the Board and who on the 1st day of February, 1973, transferred from the service of the Board to the service of the Society, shall be entitled to reckon that service for the purposes of the scheme prepared pursuant to this section.

(3) The Minister may, at the request of the Board and the Society, by order make such provisions as he thinks appropriate for transferring the whole or any part of the property of any scheme of the Board to a corresponding pension or superannuation scheme of the Society and vesting it in the trustees or other persons charged with the administration of such corresponding scheme and for winding-up, dissolving, terminating or modifying any such scheme of the Board, and where any such provisions are so made, the scheme of the Society shall have effect in accordance therewith, the scheme of the Board to which they apply being wound up, dissolved, terminated or modified, as the case may be.

(4) Where service mentioned in subsection (2) (d) of this section is reckoned on the grant of any benefit by the Society, the local authority concerned may make the appropriate refunds to the Society.

(5) In any case where section 4 of the Superannuation and Pensions Act, 1963 , was applied in relation to a person transferred or appointed to or from employment with the Board, the provisions of that section shall apply in relation to the person as if the transfer or appointment had been to or from employment with the Society, and for the purpose of applying the provisions of the said section 4 pursuant to this subsection, the Society shall be regarded as having been at the time of the transfer or appointment an approved organisation within the meaning of the said section 4.

(6) Transfer of service or employment from the Board to the Society shall not, of itself, give rise to any claim or benefit under a scheme prepared pursuant to this section.

(7) Any benefit payable under a scheme of the Board to the personal representative (in his capacity as personal representative) of any deceased officer or servant and remaining unpaid on the transfer day shall become and be payable on that day by the Society or, if the Society so provides in a superannuation or pensions scheme, under that scheme.

(8) Without prejudice to the generality of section 3 (3) of this Act, every agreement pursuant to section 4 of the Superannuation and Pensions Act, 1963 , made with the Board and in force immediately before the transfer day shall continue in force and on and from that day shall be construed and have effect as if the Society were substituted therein for the Board.

(9) In this section—

“benefit” means any pension, annuity, lump sum, gratuity or other like payment given pursuant to a superannuation or pensions scheme on retirement or payable after retirement in respect of past service or on or in connection with death during service or after retirement and includes entitlement to a return of contributions;

“local authority”, “pensionable officer” and “pensionable servant” have the meanings assigned to them respectively by section 2 of the Local Government (Superannuation) Act, 1956 ;

“pension or superannuation scheme of the Society” means a scheme, arrangement or fund established in connection with the business of the Society for the provision of benefit for the officers or servants (as the case may be) of the Society or their dependants on their retirement or death;

“scheme of the Board” means a scheme for the granting of pensions, gratuities and other allowances on retirement to or in respect of officers or servants of the Board and prepared and carried out by the Board pursuant to section 27 of the Act of 1961.