Local Government Act, 1998

Grant of gratuity in respect of service as a member of a local authority.

12.—(1) (a) A local authority may, subject to and in accordance with a scheme under subsection (3), and the provisions of this section, grant a gratuity (in this section referred to as “a gratuity”) to a person in respect of his or her service as a member of that authority, being service that, in every case, includes service as such a member subsequent to the last ordinary day of retirement of members of that authority prior to the passing of this Act (other than such service after the next ordinary day of retirement of members of that authority after the passing of this Act).

(b) A local authority shall, in computing the period of service a person has had as a member of that authority for the purposes of determining the amount of a gratuity proposed to be granted to him or her, take into account, in such manner and to such extent, and subject to such conditions or restrictions, as may be specified in a scheme, the period (if any) of service of that person as a member of another local authority.

(c) If a period of service of a person as a member of a local authority is concurrent with a period of service by him or her as a member of another local authority, only one such period shall be reckoned for the purposes of determining the amount of a gratuity proposed to be granted to that person, which shall be the period which gives the more favourable result for him or her.

(2) (a) No more than one gratuity may be granted by a local authority to a person in respect of his or her service as a member of a local authority and where the person is or was a member of more than one local authority the particular local authority that may grant a gratuity to him or her shall be the local authority that is specified in a scheme.

(b) A gratuity may not be granted by a local authority to a person to whom section 13 (1) of the Local Government Act, 1991 , falls to be applied at any time subsequent to the passing of this Act.

(3) The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, make a scheme or schemes for the purposes of this section (which or each of which is referred to in this section as “a scheme”).

(4) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (3), a scheme shall—

(a) specify the method by which the amount of a gratuity to be granted under this section by a local authority (“the local authority”) shall be determined,

(b) specify conditions which must be satisfied before a grant of a gratuity may be made (including a condition as to the minimum period of service the person concerned must have had as a member of the local authority),

(c) provide for the making of an application to the local authority by a person for the grant to him or her of a gratuity,

(d) specify procedures to be followed, and requirements to be complied with, in relation to the making of such an application (“an application”) and the making by the local authority of a decision in respect of it, and the matters in respect of which provision under this paragraph may be made include—

(i) the form in which an application shall be made,

(ii) time limits within which an application shall be made,

(iii) the notification by a local authority to a person of the making of a decision to grant to him or her a gratuity, and

(iv) the revocation by a local authority of such a decision in the event that circumstances specified in the scheme occur (and such circumstances may include the fact that the applicant stands nominated as a candidate in an election of members of that or any other local authority held next after the commencement of this section),

(e) require a specified officer of a local authority to provide a statement to the members of a local authority concerned of the number of decisions made to grant a gratuity in respect of service by persons as members of the local authority concerned,

(f) provide for any matters consequential on, or incidental to, the foregoing matters (including the period of time that may elapse between the grant of a gratuity and the payment thereof) or which the Minister considers necessary or expedient to provide for in relation to subsections (6) and (7).

(5) A scheme under subsection (3) may contain different provisions in relation to different local authorities.

(6) If a person is paid a gratuity by a local authority and that person, at any time after the local elections next after the commencement of this section, becomes a member of that or any other local authority, whether by his or her being elected or his or her being co-opted pursuant to section 11 of the Act of 1994, that person shall, within 14 days after his or her term of office as such member begins, pay the amount of the gratuity to the authority of which he or she becomes a member.

(7) If a person fails to pay to a local authority the amount of a gratuity in accordance with subsection (6), the authority shall deduct from one or more of the following allowances, remuneration or other moneys such sum or sums as will secure the payment to it of the amount of the gratuity, namely—

(a) any allowance, or amount in respect of expenses, payable to the person pursuant to section 42 or 51 of the Local Government Act, 1991 ,

(b) such allowances, amounts in respect of expenses or other remuneration as may be payable to the person pursuant to any other enactment (including any enactment passed after the commencement of this section),

(c) such other moneys as may be otherwise payable to the person by the authority from whatever source.

(8) Nothing in the Local Elections Acts, 1974 to 1997, or any instrument made thereunder, shall operate to prevent the grant or payment of a gratuity.

(9) No gratuity shall be granted or paid by a local authority to a person in respect of his or her service as a member of that or any other local authority otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of this section and a scheme or schemes made thereunder.

(10) The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, make a scheme amending or revoking a scheme under this section (including a scheme under this subsection).

(11) Every 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 21 days on which that House has sat after the scheme has been laid before it, the scheme shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

(12) Sub-article (1) of article 14 of the Local Elections Regulations, 1995 ( S.I. No. 297 of 1995 ), is hereby amended by the insertion after “his or her consent” of “in writing”, and the said sub-article (1), as so amended, is set out in the Table to this section.

TABLE

(1) At an election a person may nominate himself or herself as a candidate or may, with his or her consent in writing, be nominated by another person (being a person registered as an elector in the area of the local authority for which the person proposes to nominate the candidate) as a proposer.