Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) and Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices Act 2009

Amendment of section 13A (ministerial pensions and secretarial pensions) of Act of 1938.

5.— (1) With effect from the passing of this Act, section 13A (inserted by section 7 of the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) and Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices (Amendment) Act 1992 ) of the Act of 1938 is amended—

(a) in subsection (7)—

(i) by substituting “subject to subsection (11)” for “subject to subsection (9)” (inserted by section 16(a) of the Markets in Financial Instruments and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2007 ) in paragraph (a)(i), and

(ii) by substituting “62.5 per cent” for “50 per cent.”, in paragraph (f),

(b) by substituting the following for subsection (8):

“(8) The amount of pension payable to a person who has held the office of Taoiseach shall be reduced by 25 per cent for as long as such a person is a member of either House of the Oireachtas or a member of the European Parliament.”,

and

(c) by deleting subsection (9) as inserted by section 16(b) of the Markets in Financial Instruments and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2007 and by inserting the following after subsection (10) (inserted by section 12 of the Ministerial, Parliamentary and Judicial Offices and Oireachtas Members (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2001 ):

“(11) On application for a pension under this section to the Minister for Finance, by a person whose entitlement to the pension arose on or after the date of commencement of this section, the pension is payable as of and from a date that the Minister for Finance may determine in writing that is—

(a) not earlier than the date of entitlement, and

(b) not later than the date of the application.”.

(2) Section 13A of the Act of 1938 is further amended—

(a) in subsection (7) by substituting the following paragraph for paragraph (f) as amended by subsection (1) (a) of this section:

“(f) No pension under this section (including any subsisting discounted pension as previously provided for under paragraph (d)) shall be paid for as long as such person is a member of either House of the Oireachtas or a member of the European Parliament.”,

and

(b) by deleting subsection (8) as amended by subsection (1) (b) of this section.

(3) Subsection (2) comes into operation—

(a) in the case of membership of Dáil Éireann, on and from the election or deemed election to Dáil Éireann of the person concerned consequent on the holding of a general election for a new Dáil Éireann which first occurs after the passing of this Act,

(b) in the case of membership of Seanad Éireann, on and from the election or nomination to Seanad Éireann of the person concerned consequent on the holding of a general election for a new Seanad Éireann which first occurs after the passing of this Act, and

(c) in the case of a member of the European Parliament, on and from the first day of the European Parliament parliamentary term consequent on the first holding of elections for the European Parliament after the passing of this Act.