Constabulary and Police (Ireland) Act, 1883

Right of constables to pensions.

3. (1.) Subject to the provisions of this Act, every constable of the Royal Irish Constabulary who became a member of the force on or after the tenth day of August one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, or who shall become a member of the force after the passing of this Act—

(a.) if he has completed not less than twenty-five years service, shall be entitled on the expiration of two months after he has given written notice to the Inspector General of his desire to retire, or of such less time after that notice as the Inspector General allows, to retire and receive a pension for life; and

(b.) if he has completed not less than fifteen years service, and is incapacitated for the performance of his duty by infirmity of mind or body, shall be entitled to retire and receive a pension for life; and

(c.) if he is incapacitated for the performance of his duty by infirmity of mind or body occasioned in the execution of his duty without his own default, shall be entitled to retire and to receive a pension for life; and

(d.) if he has not completed fifteen years service, and is incapacitated for the performance of his duty by infirmity of mind or body occasioned otherwise than as aforesaid and without his own default, may, if the Inspector General allows him, retire, and the Inspector General, if he thinks fit, may grant him a gratuity.

(2.) Provided that—

(a.) a constable becoming a member of the force after the passing of this Act, and who receives a pension under this section before he has completed twenty-five years service, shall be subject to return to service, as mentioned in this Act, if he ceases to be incapacitated; and

(b.) where a constable receives a pension under this section, before he has completed fifteen years service, the pension shall be subject to such reduction by the Inspector General as is provided by this Act.

(3.) The said pensions and gratuities shall be in accordance with the pension scale under this Act, and, subject to the limits in that scale, shall be such as the Inspector General, with the approval of the Treasury, may determine.

(4.) Provided that where a pension is granted to a constable on account of infirmity of mind or body, and such infirmity is certified by some legally qualified medical practitioner to have been brought about or been contributed to by his own default or by his vicious habits, and such constable is entitled under this Act to a pension of a fixed amount or to a pension not less than a fixed amount, the Inspector General may, subject to the limit in the pension scale, grant to him a less amount of pension than the said fixed amount of pension to which he would otherwise have been entitled.

The pension scale under this Act shall be the scale set out in the Second Schedule to this Act.

(5.) No pension shall be granted to any such constable unless the Inspector General is satisfied that he has served with diligence and fidelity.

(6.) When any constable who became a member of the force on or after the tenth day of August one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six or who shall become a member of the force after the passing of this Act has completed a service of twenty-five years, the Inspector General may, if he thinks fit, require him to retire upon the terms as to pension prescribed by this Act.

When any constable who became a member of the force before the said tenth day of August one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six has completed a service of twenty-five years, the Inspector General may, if he thinks fit, require him to retire, and in computing the pension to which he is entitled his length of service shall be reckoned as thirty years.