Social Welfare Act, 1993

PART VII

Amendments to Pensions Act, 1990

Definitions.

42.—Section 2 of the Pensions Act is hereby amended—

(a) by the substitution for the definition of “auditor” of the following definition:

“‘auditor’, in relation to a scheme, means a person appointed in pursuance of this Act to act as auditor, for the purposes of this Act, of the scheme;”,

(b) by the insertion of the following definitions after the definition of “defined contribution scheme”:

“‘early retirement rule’ means a provision of a scheme under which a member may retire with entitlement to an immediate benefit where either—

(i) the member's right is subject to the consent of some person or the satisfaction of some condition not relating only to age or period of service in relevant employment or both, or

(ii) the calculation of the member's immediate retirement benefit involves or may involve the use of an actuarial reduction factor related to his age at the date of his retirement;

‘external member’ in relation to a scheme, means any person who, having been admitted to membership under the rules of the scheme, remains entitled to any benefit under the scheme in respect of a period of service whilst employed outside the State;

‘external scheme’ means a scheme established under the law of a country other than the State;”,

(c) by the insertion of the following definition after the definition of “funded scheme”:

‘“immediate retirement benefit’ means a benefit payable to a member under the rules of a scheme immediately on retirement from relevant employment but does not include a refund of the member's contributions with or without interest or a transfer of an amount of money from the scheme—

(i) to another scheme, or

(ii) for application under a policy or contract of insurance approved by the Revenue Commissioners under Chapter II of Part I of the Finance Act, 1972 ,”,

(d) by the substitution for the definition of “normal pensionable age” of the following definition:

“‘normal pensionable age’ means the later of—

(a) the earliest age at which a member of a scheme is entitled under the rules of the scheme (disregarding any early retirement rule) to receive an immediate retirement benefit, or

(b) the age of 60 years:

Provided that if a member of a scheme is required to retire from relevant employment at an age below 60 years with entitlement under the rules of the scheme to receive an immediate retirement benefit, normal pensionable age means the age at which the member is required to retire from relevant employment;”,

(e) by the insertion after subparagraph (iv) of the definition of “occupational pension scheme” of the following subparagraph:

“or

(v) which has been approved by the Revenue Commissioners for the purpose of one or more of the following, that is to say, section 32 of the Finance Act, 1921 , or section 34 of the Finance Act, 1958 , or sections 222 or 229 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 ,”,

and

(f) by the substitution for the definition of “reckonable service” of the following definition:

“‘reckonable service’ means service in the relevant employment during membership of the scheme but does not include service as a member of the scheme where either—

(a) the only benefit thereunder is in respect of death prior to normal pensionable age, or

(b) the member has been notified in writing by the trustees that such service does not entitle him to long service benefit;”.