Marine Institute Act, 1991

Superannuation of staff of Institute.

9.—(1) The Institute may, with the consent of the Minister and the Minister for Finance, make a scheme or schemes for the granting of superannuation benefits to or in respect of persons (including the Chief Executive Officer) appointed or transferred under section 8 of this Act, to whole-time positions on the staff of the Institute.

(2) A scheme under subsection (1) of this section shall fix the times and conditions of retirement for all persons to or in respect of whom superannuation benefits are payable under the scheme or schemes, and different times and conditions may be fixed in respect of different classes of persons.

(3) Subject to subsection (4) of this section, the Institute may, with the consent of the Minister and the Minister for Finance, make a scheme amending or revoking a scheme under this section including a scheme under this subsection.

(4) A scheme or amending scheme, or revoking scheme submitted to the Minister under this section shall, if approved of by the Minister with the consent of the Minister for Finance, be carried out by the Institute in accordance with its terms.

(5) Disbursement of superannuation benefit which may be granted to or in respect of persons who were members of the staff of the Department of the Marine before being transferred to the Institute shall not be on less favourable conditions than would apply immediately before their transfer to the Institute.

(6) If any dispute arises as to the claim of any person to, or the amount of, any superannuation benefit payable in pursuance of a scheme or schemes under this section, such dispute shall be submitted to the Minister who shall refer it to the Minister for Finance, whose decision shall be final.

(7) No superannuation benefit shall be granted by the Institute on the resignation, retirement or death of a member of the staff of the Institute, including the Chief Executive Officer, otherwise than in accordance with a scheme or schemes under this section.

(8) A scheme under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the scheme is passed by either such House within the next twenty-one days on which that House has sat after the scheme is laid before it, the scheme shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything done thereunder.

(9) A scheme or schemes under subsection (1) of this section shall, as respects a person transferred by the Minister to a whole-time position on the staff of the Institute under section 8 of this Act provide for the granting to or in respect of him of superannuation benefits upon and subject to terms and conditions that are not less favourable to him than the terms and conditions applied to him in the Department of the Marine immediately before his transfer to the Institute in relation to the grant of such benefits.

(10) Where superannuation benefits fall due for payment to or in respect of a person to whom subsection (9) of this section applies in the period beginning on the establishment day and ending immediately before the coming into operation of a scheme under this section, the superannuation benefits shall be calculated and paid by the Institute in accordance with the Superannuation Acts, 1834 to 1963, as applied to such person immediately before the establishment day and, for that purpose, his pensionable service with the Institute shall be aggregated with his previous pensionable service.

(11) The Minister for Finance shall make such contribution as may, with his consent, be specified in a scheme or schemes under this section towards the superannuation benefits related to reckonable service given before the establishment day which may be granted to or in respect of persons who, immediately before that day, were members of the staff of the Department of the Marine and such scheme or schemes shall, with the like consent, fix the manner and times of the payment of such contribution.

(12) Moneys required to be paid by the Minister for Finance under this section shall be advanced out of the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof.

(13) In this section and in sections 10 and 11 “superannuation benefits” means pensions, gratuities and other allowances payable on resignation, retirement or death.