I, PÁDRAIG S. Ó DONNAGÁIN, Minister for Defence, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by sections 2 , 3 and 5 of the Defence Forces (Pensions) Act, 1932 (No. 26 of 1932), and by section 4 of the Defence Forces (Pensions) (Amendment) Act, 1938 (No. 33 of 1938), as adapted by the Public Service (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order, 1973 ( S.I. No. 294 of 1973 ), hereby, with the consent of the Minister for the Public Service, make the following Scheme:

1 Short title, collective citation and construction.

1. (1) This Scheme may be cited as the Defence Forces (Pensions) (Amendment) (No. 3) Scheme, 1975.

(2) The collective citation the Defence Forces' (Pensions) Schemes, 1937 to 1975, shall include this Scheme.

(3) The Defence Forces (Pensions) Schemes, 1937 to 1975, shall be construed together as one Scheme.

2 Commencement.

2. This Scheme shall come into force on the day after the date on which it is made.

3 Application of Interpretation Act, 1937 .

3. The Interpretation Act, 1937 . (No. 38 of 1937), applies to this Scheme.

4 Definitions.

4. In this Scheme—

"the Principal Scheme" means the Defence Forces (Pensions) Scheme, 1937 (S.R. & O., No. 249 of 1937);

"the Amending Scheme of 1947" means the Defence Forces (Pensions) (Amendment) Scheme, 1947 (S.R. & O., No. 81 of 1947);

"the Amending Scheme of 1957" means the Defence Forces (Pensions) (Amendment) Scheme, 1957 ( S.I. No. 152 of 1957 );

"the No. 3 Amending Scheme of 1972" means the Defence Forces (Pensions) (Amendment) (No. 3) Scheme, 1972 ( S.I. No. 306 of 1972 );

"the No. 3 Amending Scheme of 1973" means the Defence Forces (Pensions) (Amendment) (No. 3) Scheme, 1973 ( S.I. No. 295 of 1973 ))

"the No. 2 Amending Scheme of 1974" means the Defence Forces (Pensions) (Amendment) (No. 2) Scheme, 1974 ( S.I. No. 223 of 1974 );

"the Amending Scheme of 1975" means the Defence Forces (Pensions) (Amendment) Scheme, 1975 ( S.I. No. 145 of 1975 ).

5 Amendment of Article 5 of No. 2 Amending Scheme of 1974.

5. The No. 2 Amending Scheme of 1974 is hereby amended by the substitution for Article 5 (as amended by Article 5 of the Amending Scheme of 1975) of the following Article—

"5. (1) Where retired pay is granted under Article 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 9A, 10 or 10A of the Principal Scheme. to an officer who retires or is retired on or after the 2nd day of April, 1974, such pay(as increased by Article 5 of the No. 3 Amending Scheme, 1973) shall be further increased by the appropriate percentage indicated in the Table to this Article opposite the mention of such officer's retiring rank.

(2) This Article shall be deemed to have come into operation on the 2nd day of April, 1974.

TABLE.

Retiring rank by reference to which retired pay was calculated	Married and Single Officers
Retirement before 2nd June, 1974	Retirement on or after 2nd June, 1974 and before 2nd December, 1974
Lieutenant-General	—	13%
Major-General	—	11%
Colonel	—	13%
Lieutenant-Colonel	—	10%
Commandant	5%	14%
Captain	5%	14%
Lieutenant	5%	15%

6 Amendment of Article 6 of Amending Scheme of 1975.

6. The Amending Scheme of 1975 is hereby amended by the substitution for Article 6 of the following Article—

"6. (1) Where retired pay is granted under Article 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 9A, 10, or 10A of the Principal Scheme to an officer who retires or is retired on or after the 2nd day of December, 1974, such pay (as increased by Article 5 of the No. 2 Amending Scheme of 1974) shall be further increased by the appropriate percentage indicated in the Table to this Article opposite the mention of such officer's retiring rank.

(2) This Article shall be deemed to have come into operation on the 2nd Say of December, 1974.

TABLE.

Retiring rank by reference to whichretired pay was calculated.	Married and Single Officers
Lieutenant-General	6%
Major-General	6%
Colonel	6%
Lieutenant-Colonel	6%
Commandant	6%
Captain	6%
Lieutenant	7%

7 Amendment of Article 7 of Amending Scheme of 1975.

7. The Amending Scheme of 1975 is hereby further amended by the substitution for Article 7 of the following Article—

"7. (1) Where retired pay is granted under Article 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 9A, 10, or 10A of the Principal Scheme to an officer who retires or is retired on or after the 2nd day of March, 1975, such pay (as increased by Article 6 of the Amending Scheme of 1975) shall be further increased by the appropriate percentage indicated in the Table to this Article opposite the mention of such officer's retiring rank.

(2) This Article shall be deemed to have come into operation on the 2nd day of March, 1975.

TABLE.

Retiring rank by reference to which retired pay was calculated.	Married and Single Officers
Lieutenant-General	10%
Major-General	10%
Colonel	10%
Lieutenant-Colonel	10%
Commandant	10%
Captain	10%
Lieutenant	10%

8 Increase of retired pay of officers retiring on or after 2nd June, 1975.

8. (1) Where retired pay is granted under Article 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 9A, 10 or 10A of the Principal Scheme to an officer who retires or is retired on or after the 2nd day of June, 1975, such pay (as increased by Article 7 of the Amending Scheme of 1975) (inserted by Article 7 of this Scheme) shall be further increased by the appropriate percentage indicated in the Table to this Article opposite the mention of such officer's retiring rank.

(2) This Article shall be deemed to have come into operation on the 2nd day of June, 1975.

TABLE.

Retiring rank by reference to which retired pay was calculated.	Married and Single Officers
Lieutenant-General	9%
Major-General	9%
Colonel	9%
Lieutenant-Colonel	9%
Commandant	9%
Captain	9%
Lieutenant	9%

9 Amendment of Article 6 of No. 2 Amending Scheme of 1974.

9. The No. 2 Amending Scheme of 1974 is hereby further amended by the substitution for Article 6 (as amended by Article 8 of the Amending Scheme of 1975) of the following Article—

"6. (1) Where a gratuity is payable under Article 11 of the Principal Scheme (inserted by Article 9 of the Amending Scheme of 1947) to an officer who retires or is retired) on or after the 2nd day of April, 1974, such gratuity (as increased by Article 6 of the No. 3 Amending Scheme of 1973) shall be further increased by the appropriate percentage indicated in the Table to this Article opposite the mention of such officer's retiring rank, and Article 11A of the Principal Scheme (inserted by Article 10 of the said Amending Scheme of 1947) shall have effect accordingly.

(2) In this Article and in the Table hereto "retiring rank" has the meaning assigned to it in Rule 1 (inserted by Article 19 of the Amending Scheme of 1957) of the Fifth Schedule to the Principal Scheme.

(3) This Article shall be deemed to have come into operation on the 2nd day of April, 1974.

TABLE.

Retiring Rank	Percentage
Retirement before 2nd June, 1974	Retirement on or after 2nd June, 1974 and before 2nd December, 1974
Lieutenant-General	—	13%
Major-General	—	11%
Colonel	—	13%
Lieutenant-Colonel	—	10%
Commandant	5%	14%
Captain	5%	14%
Lieutenant	5%	15%

10 Amendment of Article 9 of Amending Scheme of 1975.

10. The Amending Scheme of 1975 is hereby further amended by the substitution for Article 9 of the following Article—

"9 (1) Where a gratuity is payable under Article II of the Principal Scheme (inserted by Article 9 of the Amending Scheme of 1947) to an officer who retires or is retired on or after the 2nd day of December, 1974, such gratuity (as increased by Article 6 of the No. 2 Amending Scheme of 1974) shall be further increased by the appropriate percentage indicated in the Table to this Article opposite the mention of such officer's retiring rank, and Article 11A of the Principal Scheme (inserted by Article 10 of the said Amending Scheme of 1947) shall have effect accordingly.

(3) This Article shall be deemed to have come into operation on the 2nd day of December, 1974.

TABLE

Retiring Rank	Percentage
Lieutenant-General	6%
Major-General	6%
Colonel	6%
Lieutenant-Colonel	6%
Commandant	6%
Captain	6%
Lieutenant	7%

11 Amendment of Article 10 of Amending Scheme of 1975.

11. (1) The Amending Scheme of 1975 is hereby further amended by the substitution for Article 10 of the following Article—

"10. (1) Where a gratuity is payable under Article 11 of the Principal Scheme (inserted by Article 9 of the Amending Scheme of 1947) to an officer who retires or is retired on or after the 2nd day of March, 1975, such gratuity (as increased by Article 9 of the Amending Scheme of 1975) shall be further increased by the appropriate percentage indicated in the Table to this Article opposite the mention of such officer's retiring rank, and Article 11A of the Principal Scheme (inserted by Article 10 of the said Amending Scheme of 1947) shall have effect accordingly.

(3) This Article shall be deemed to have come into operation on the 2nd day of March, 1975.

TABLE

Retiring Rank	Percentage
Lieutenant-General	10%
Major-General	10%
Colonel	10%
Lieutenant-Colonel	10%
Commandant	10%
Captain	10%
Lieutenant	10%

12 Increase of gratuities of married officers retiring on or after 2nd June, 1975.

12. (1) Where a gratuity is payable under Article 11 of the Principal Scheme (inserted by Article 9 of the Amending Scheme of 1947) to an officer who retires or is retired on or after the 2nd day of June, 1975 such gratuity (as increased by Article 10 of the Amending Scheme of 1975) (inserted by Article 11 of this Scheme) shall be further increased by the appropriate percentage indicated in the Table to this Article opposite the mention of such officer's retiring rank, and Article 11A of the Principal Scheme (inserted by Article 10 of the said Amending Scheme of 1947) shall have effect accordingly.

(3) This Article shall be deemed to have come into operation on the 2nd day of June, 1975.

TABLE.

Retiring Rank	Percentage
Lieutenant-General	9%
Major-General	9%
Colonel	9%
Lieutenant-Colonel	9%
Commandant	9%
Captain	9%
Lieutenant	9%

13 Gratuity on retirement to certain officers.

13. (1) Where a special service officer, to whom paragraph 14 (3) (a) of Part III of Defence Force Regulations A15 applies, continues to serve in the Forces beyond the retiring age prescribed by the said Regulations for a line officer of similar rank and description and retires on the grounds of mental or physical incapacity or is retired for those reasons at any time while so serving there may be paid to such officer a gratuity equal to one and one-half times the annual rate of his pay at the date of his retirement.

(2) In this Article "pay at the date of retirement" has the meaning assigned to it in Article 10 of the No. 3 Amending Scheme of 1972.

(3) This Article shall be deemed to have come into operation on the 1st day of June, 1975.

14 Amendment of Article 26A of the Principal Scheme.

14. The Principal Scheme shall be construed and have effect as if the following Article were substituted for Article 26A (inserted by Article 22 of the Amending Scheme of 1947).

"26A. (1) Subject to the provisions of this Scheme there may be granted to any long-service soldier who is discharged on or after the 1st day of June, 1975, and whose qualifying service is 21 years or more, a pension at the rate per week specified in the second column of Table I to this Article opposite the mention, in the first column of the said Table, of his retiring rank.

(2) Where—

( a ) a soldier is permitted to extend his service in the Forces beyond 21 years service, and

( b ) such soldier's qualifying service is 22 years or more, and

( c ) such soldier is granted a pension under sub-article (1)

Table I to this Article shall have effect as if the weekly sum set out in the second column of the said Table opposite the mention, in the first column of the said Table, of his retiring rank were increased, in respect of each year of his qualifying service in excess of twenty-one years but not in excess of thirty-one years, by £005 plus an additional increase at the rate specified in Table II to this Article.

(3) The additional increase specified in Table II to this Article shall cease to be payable when a soldier reaches the age of 70 years or becomes otherwise entitled to a retirement pension under the Social Welfare Acts, 1952 to 1975, as amended.

(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-article (3) the additional increase specified in Table II to this Article shall continue to be payable when a soldier reaches the age of 70 years, if, without his own default, he fails to qualify for a contributory old age pension under the Social Welfare Acts, 1952 to 1975, as amended.

(5) This Article shall be deemed to have come into operation on the 1st day of June, 1975.

TABLE I.

Retiring Rank	Rate per week of pension in respect of 21 years' qualifying service
Sergeant-Major	£2410
Battalion Quartermaster-Sergeant	£2226
Company-Sergeant	£2063
Company Quartermaster-Sergeant	£1977
Sergeant	£1910
Corporal	£1854
Private	£1692

TABLE II.

Date of Discharge	Weekly rate of additional increase in respect of each year of qualifying service in excess of 21 years but not exceeding 31 years
On or after the 1st day of June, 1975	£061

15 Amendment of Article 27A of the Principal Scheme.

15. (1) Article 27A of the Principal Scheme (inserted by Article 24 of the Amending Scheme of 1947) is hereby amended by the deletion in the sixth line of "(including married pension)".

(2) This Article shall be deemed to have come into operation on the 1st of June, 1975.

16 Amendment of Article 28A of the Principal Scheme

16. (1) Article 28A of the Principal Scheme (inserted by Article 26 of the Amending Scheme of 1947) (as amended by Article 12 of the Amending Scheme of 1975) shall have effect as if the gratuity payable thereunder to a soldier, in lieu of being calculated by reference to Table II to the said Article 12, were calculated by reference to the Table to this Article.

(2) This Article shall be deemed to have come into operation on the 1st of June, 1975.

TABLE

Ref. No.	Retiring Rank	Rate for each year of qualifying service where total qualifying service less than 7 years	Rate for each year of qualifying service where total qualifying service not less than 7 years but less than 13 years	Rate for each year of qualifying service where total qualifying service not less than 13 years but less than 12 years
(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)
1.	Private	£2294	£4588	£6882
2.	Any rank being that of Corporal or Sergeant	£2781	£5562	£8343
3.	Any rank being that of Company-Quartermaster-Sergeant, Company-Sergeant, Battalion Quartermaster-Sergeant or Sergeant-Major	£3274	£6548	£9822

17 Increase of retired pay of officers retired before 2nd June, 1975.

17. The retired pay payable under Article 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 9A, 10 or 10A of the Principal Scheme (including retired pay increased under Article 13 (1) (a) of the Principal Scheme) to an officer who retired before the 2nd day of June, 1975, shall, with effect from the 1st day of July, 1975, be the amount which would be payable to him if the date of his retirement had been the 2nd day of June, 1975, and his appointment, rank, service in that rank, total service and single or married status were the same as those on the date of his actual retirement.

18 Increase of retired pay under Article 19 of Amending Scheme of 1960.

18. The retired pay payable under Article 19 of the Defence Forces (Pensions) (Amendment) Scheme, 1960 ( S.I. No. 135 of 1960 ), to an officer shall, with effect from the 1st day of July, 1975, be the amount which would be payable to him if the date of his retirement had been the 2nd day of June, 1975, and his rank, service in that rank, total service and single or married status were the same as those on the date of his actual retirement.

19 Increase of pensions of certain deceased officers' widows.

19. Article 20 (1) of the Principal Scheme shall, with effect from the 1st day of July, 1975, have effect as if for the Table thereto (as inserted by Article 5 (1) of the Defence Forces (Pensions) (Amendment) (No. 4) Scheme, 1974 ( S.I. No. 236 of 1974 ) there were substituted the following Table:—

TABLE

Rank	Amount of Pension
Second-Lieutenant or Lieutenant	£450 a year or 25 per cent of the deceased officer's retired pay, whichever is greater.
Captain	£55176 a year or 30 per cent of the deceased officer's retired pay, whichever is greater.
Commandant	£65064 a year or 315 per cent of the deceased officer's retired pay, whichever is greater.
Major or Lieutenant Colonel	£73800 a year or 28 per cent of the deceased officer's retired pay, whichever is greater.
Colonel	£88164 a year or 275 per cent of the deceased officer's retired pay, whichever is greater.
Major-General or higher rank	£97944 a year or 255 per cent of the deceased officer's retired pay, whichever is greater.

20 Increase of pensions of certain deceased officers' children.

20. Every pension payable under Article 20 (2) of the Principal Scheme to a child of a deceased officer shall, with effect from the 1st day of July 1975, be increased as follows:—

( a ) while the child's mother is living—to £15084 a year,

( b ) after the death of the child's mother—to £22176 a year.

21 Increase of pensions under Article 26A or 27A of the Principal Scheme.

21. The pension payable under Article 26A of the Principal Scheme (inserted by Article 22 of the Amending Scheme of 1947) (as amended by Article 14 of this Scheme) or Article 27A of the Principal Scheme (inserted by Article 24 of the said Amending Scheme of 1947) to a soldier discharged before the 1st day of June, 1975, shall, with effect from the 1st day of July, 1975, be the amount which would be payable to him if the date of his discharge had been the 1st day of June, 1975, and his rank, service in that rank and total service were the same as those on the date of his actual discharge.

22 Increase of pensions of certain members of Army Nursing Service.

22. The pension payable under Part IV of the Principal Scheme to a member of the Army Nursing Service who resigned or whose services were terminated with effect from a date prior to the 2nd day of June, 1975, shall, with effect from the 1st day of July, 1975, be the amount which would be payable to her if the effective date of her resignation or of the termination of her services had been the 2nd day of June, 1975, and her rank, service in that rank and total service were the same as those on the actual effective date of her resignation or of the termination of her services.

23 Increase pensions of certain members of Chaplaincy Service.

23. The pension payable under Part IVA of the Principal Scheme (inserted by Article 12 of the Defence Forces (Pensions) (Amendment) Scheme, 1949 ( S.I. No. 209 of 1949 )), to a member of the Chaplaincy Service whose services were terminated with effect from a date prior to the 2nd day of June, 75, shall, with effect from the 1st day of July, 1975, be the amount which would be payable to him if the effective date of the termination of his services had been the 2nd day of June, 1975, and his grade of appointment, service in that grade and total service were the same as those on the actual effective date of the termination of his services.

24 Amendment of Article 20 (1) of Amending Scheme of 1953.

24. Article 20 (1) of the Defence Forces (Pensions) (Amendment) Scheme, 1953 ( S.I. No. 259 of 1953 ) shall, with effect from the 1st day of July, 1975, have effect as if for the Table thereto (inserted by Article 11 of the Defence Forces (Pensions) (Amendment) (No. 5) Scheme, 1974 ( S.I. No. 314 of 1974 )) there were substituted the following Table:—

TABLE

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in Article 38 of the Principal Scheme, no reduction of service pension shall be made under that Article so as to reduce the total of the service pension and the disablement pension to less than the greater of the following amounts:—

( a ) the sum of £1,008 a year,

( b ) the sum of the greater of such pensions and one half the lesser."

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 30th day of July, 1975.

PÁDRAIG S. Ó DONNAGÁIN.

The Minister for the Public Service hereby consents to the foregoing Scheme.

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Minister for the Public Service this

30th day of July, 1975.

RICHIE RYAN.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

This statutory instrument provides for increases in the amount of retirement benefits payable to officers of the Permanent Defence Force retiring on or after 2nd April, 1974 and in the pensions or gratuities payable to soldiers discharged or transferred to the Reserve Defence Force on or after 1st June, 1975.

It also provide for the Budgetary increases effective from 1st July, 1975 in the pensions of Army personnel (including members of the Nursing and Chaplaincy Services) payable under the Defence Forces (Pensions) Schemes, 1937 to 1975.