S.I. No. 410/1951 - Garda Síochána Pensions Order, 1951.


WHEREAS by section 13 of the Police Forces Amalgamation Act, 1925 (No. 7 of 1925), power is conferred on the Minister for Justice, with the sanction of the Minister for Finance, from time to time by order to authorise the grant and payment of pensions, allowances, and gratuities to members of the Garda Síochána and to their widows, children and dependants :

AND WHEREAS it is enacted by subsection (3) of the said section 13 that every statute, order, or regulation in force immediately before the commencement of the said Act authorising the grant or payment of pensions, allowances, or gratuities to members of the Dublin Metropolitan Police or their widows, children, or dependants shall, until varied by an order made under that section and subject to any such variation, continue to apply with certain modifications to members of the Garda Síochána who immediately before the commencement of the said Act were members of the Dublin Metropolitan Police :

AND WHEREAS the Dublin Metropolitan Police Pensions Order, 1922, authorising the payment of pensions, allowances and gratuities to members of the Dublin Metropolitan Police and their widows, children and dependants was in force immediately before the commencement of the said Act :

NOW, the Minister for Justice, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 13 of the Police Forces Amalgamation Act, 1925 (No. 7 of 1925), and of every and any other power him in this behalf enabling, hereby makes, with the sanction of the Minister for Finance, testified by his signature, the following Order :

1. This Order may be cited as the Garda Síochána Pensions Order, 1951.

2. This Order and the Garda Síochána Pensions Orders, 1925 to 1950, may be cited together as the Garda Síochána Pensions Orders, 1925 to 1951.

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

4. (1) In this Order—

the expression the " critical date " means the date of the making of this Order ;

the expression " the Order of 1922 " means the Dublin Metropolitan Police Pensions Order, 1922, as amended or varied by subsequent orders ;

the expression " the Order of 1925 " means the Garda Siochana Pensions Order, 1925 ( S. R. & O. No. 63 of 1925 ), as amended by subsequent orders.

(2) Any expression used in this Order which has a particular meaning for the purposes of the Order of 1922 or the Order of 1925 (as may be appropriate) shall have that meaning in this Order.

5. (1) In this Order the expression " person pensionable in accordance with this Order " means—

(a) a person who becomes a member of the force after the critical date, or

(b) a person—

(i) who was serving as a member of the force on the critical date,

(ii) who has applied in writing to the Minister, within six months after the critical date, to become pensionable in accordance with this Order,

(iii) who, on the critical date, had not attained—

(I) in case he was then below the rank of Superintendent, the age of sixty years,

(II) in case he was then of the rank of Superintendent or Chief Superintendent, the age of sixty-three years, or

(III) in case he was then of a rank higher than Chief Superintendent, the age of sixty-five years, and

(iv) whose said application has been accepted by the Minister.

(2) The Minister shall not accept an application referred to in subparagraph (b) of paragraph (1) of this Article unless he is satisfied that the applicant is in good health, and for that purpose the Minister may require the applicant to undergo such medical examination as the Minister may direct.

6. (1) The Order of 1922 shall, as respects a person pensionable in accordance with this Order to whom the Order of 1922 applies and to whom the scale of ordinary pensions prescribed by the Order of 1922 applies, be construed and have effect as if, for the matter set out in paragraph (a) of Part I of the First Schedule thereto, there were substituted the matter set out in Table I to this Order.

(2) The matter set out in Table I to this Order shall apply to a person pensionable in accordance with this Order to whom the Order of 1922 applies but to whom the scale of ordinary pensions prescribed by the Order of 1922 does not apply in lieu of the provisions of the existing Acts, as defined in the Order of 1922, relating to the scales of ordinary pensions and gratuities.

(3) The Order of 1922 shall, as respects a person pensionable in accordance with this Order to whom the Order of 1922 applies, be construed and have effect as if, for the matter set out in paragraph (b) of Part I of the First Schedule thereto, there were substituted the matter set out in Table II to this Order.

7. The Order of 1925 shall, as respects a person pensionable in accordance with this Order to whom the Order of 1925 applies, be construed and have effect as if, for the matter set out in paragraph A of Part I of the First Schedule thereto, there were substituted the matter set out in Table III to this Order and as if, for the matter set out in paragraph B of the said Part I, there were substituted the matter set out in Table II to this Order.

8. A person pensionable in accordance with this Order, having been granted an ordinary pension, shall be entitled also to receive a gratuity (in this Order referred to as a retirement gratuity) which shall be calculated as follows :

(a) in case he was serving as a member of the force on the 1st day of January, 1950, and was appointed (or if he had two or more separate periods of service, was first appointed) to the force after his 27th birthday, it shall be calculated at the rate of one-thirtieth of his annual pay for each completed year of approved service (so much of the approved service as is service after his 47th birthday being doubled) subject to a maximum of one and one-half times his annual pay : Provided that, in case he was serving as a member of the force on the critical date, the result of the said calculation shall be increased by one-half of one per cent. for each completed year of approved service (none thereof being doubled) before the critical date ; and

(b) in any other case, it shall be calculated at the rate of one-thirtieth of his annual pay for each completed year of approved service together with an additional thirtieth of his annual pay for the twenty-first and each subsequent year of approved service, subject to a maximum of one and one-half times his annual pay : Provided that, in case he was serving as a member of the force on the critical date, the result of the said calculation shall be increased by one-half of one per cent. for each completed year of approved service before the critical date.

9. A person pensionable in accordance with this Order, having been granted a special pension, shall, if he has completed not less than two years' approved service, be entitled also to receive a gratuity (in this Order also referred to as a retirement gratuity) which shall be calculated at the rate of one-thirtieth of his annual pay for each completed year of approved service together with an additional one-thirtieth of his annual pay for the twenty-first and each subsequent completed year of approved service, subject to a maximum of one and one-half times his annual pay.

10. A person pensionable in accordance with this Order, having been granted a gratuity under paragraph (c) in Part I of the First Schedule to the Order of 1922 or (as the case may be) under paragraph C in Part I of the First Schedule to the Order of 1925, shall, if he has completed not less than two years' approved service, be entitled also to receive a gratuity (in this Order referred to as a short service gratuity) which shall be calculated at the rate of one-thirtieth of his annual pay for each completed year of approved service.

11. Where a person pensionable in accordance with this Order who has completed five years' approved service dies whilst serving in the force, the legal personal representatives of such person shall be entitled to receive a gratuity (in this Order referred to as a death gratuity) of an amount equal to whichever of the following is the greater—

(a) the retirement gratuity (if any) which such person would have been entitled, to receive if he had retired from the force at the date of his death on the ground of being incapacitated for the performance of his duty by infirmity of mind or body, or

(b) his annual pay.

12. Where a person pensionable in accordance with this Order dies after having been granted an ordinary or special pension and the aggregate of such pension and the retirement gratuity paid toor payable in respect of him is less than his annual pay, his legal personal representatives shall be entitled to receive a gratuity (in this Order also referred to as a death gratuity) of an amount equal to the deficiency.

13. Where a member of the force to whom a retirement gratuity has been paid on retirement from the force, serves again in the force in accordance with the provisions of Article 13 of the Order of 1922 or Article 10 of the Order of 1925, the amount of any retirement gratuity to which he later becomes entitled shall be reduced by the amount of the retirement gratuity paid to him on previous retirement.

14. A person pensionable in accordance with this Order who was a member of the force on the critical date shall not be entitled to receive an ordinary pension or a retirement gratuity unless he completes thirty years' approved service or he is, sooner, compelled to retire on the ground of age or on the ground of being incapacitated for the performance of duty by infirmity of mind or body.

15. (1) The provisions of Article 13 of the Garda Síochána Pensions (No. 2) Order, 1938 ( S. R. & O. No. 234 of 1938 ), shall apply to a retirement gratuity in like manner as they apply to a garda pension.

(2) Where a garda pension is reassessed under paragraph (3) of Article 13 of the Garda Síochána Pensions (No. 2) Order, 1938, any retirement gratuity paid in addition to the pension shall also be reassessed in the manner provided in that Article and, if it is reduced, the amount of the reduction shall be refunded to the Minister by the pensioner or may, at the discretion of the Minister, be recovered by deductions from payments of pension falling to be made to the pensioner.

16. (1) The Order of 1922 (inclusive of the amendment thereof effected by Article 18 of this Order) or (as the case may be) the Order of 1925 (inclusive of the amendment thereof effected by Article 18 of this Order) shall apply to any of the gratuities and, for the purpose of removing doubts, the gratuities or any of them shall, for the purposes of Article 6A of the Order of 1922 or (as the case may be) of Article 7A of the Order of 1925, be awards or an award under whichever is relevant of the said Orders.

(2) In this Article " the gratuities " includes a retirement gratuity, a short service gratuity and a death gratuity.

17. (1) The Order of 1922 is hereby amended by the substitution for Article 3 of the following—

" 3. The rates and scales of pay prescribed by the PayOrder, 1920, shall be subject to the following conditions with respect to retirement from the force :—

Retirement shall be compulsory—

for members of the force holding any rank higher than the rank of Chief Superintendent, on attaining the age of sixty-five years, and

for members of the force holding the rank of Chief Superintendent or Superintendent, on attaining the age of sixty-three years, and

for members of the force below the rank of Superintendent, on attaining the age of sixty years ;

except that the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána may, with the consent of the Minister for Justice, extend, where it appears to be in the interests of the efficiency of the Garda Síochána so to do, the age at which any member of the force would retire under the foregoing provisions of this paragraph by such period, not exceeding two years, as the Commissioner shall determine. "

(2) Paragraph (1) of this Article shall be deemed to have come into operation on the 3rd day of May, 1951.

18. (1) Paragraph (1) of Article 9 of the Order of 1622 is hereby amended by the addition, immediately before the proviso, of the following words " but shall not include service after attaining the age of sixty-five years ".

(2) Paragraph (1) of Article 9 of the Order of 1925 is hereby amended by the addition of the words " but shall not include service after attaining the age of sixty-five years ".

19. (1) Where a person in receipt of a pension under the Order of 1922 or the Order of 1925 is appointed to any office remunerated out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas or out of the Central Fund, the Minister for Finance may suspend his pension in whole or in part so long as he remains in that office.

(2) The Minister for Finance may cancel or reduce the pension which would otherwise have been payable under the Order of 1922 or the Order of 1925 to a widow, if the widow is in receipt of a pension from some authority in respect of any such appointment as aforesaid held by her husband, and may, in like circumstances, cancel or reduce any allowances which would otherwise have been payable under either of those Orders to a child.

(3) The Minister for Finance may cancel or reduce the pension which would otherwise have been payable under the Order of 1925 to a widow if the widow is in receipt of a pension in respectof any service by her husband in another police force prior to his joining the force.

(4) Article 17 of the Order of 1922 and Article 14 of the Order of 1925 are hereby revoked.

20. Articles 13 and 28 of the Garda Síochána Pensions Order, 1950 ( S.I. No. 154 of 1950 ), are hereby amended by the insertion in each Article of the words " and not being a pension under the Military Service Pensions Acts, 1924 to 1949 ", before the words " his Garda pension ".

21. (1) Where—

(a) a person was on a date (in this Article referred to as the relevant date) prior to the 1st day of January, 1951, dismissed from the force, required to retire from the force as an alternative to dismissal or resigned from the force on being afforded an opportunity of resigning following disciplinary charges, and

(b) the Minister and the Minister for Finance are satisfied, on a certificate (in this Article referred to as the relevant certificate) of a registered medical practitioner selected by them, that such person was incapacitated on the relevant date for the performance of his duty by infirmity of mind or body and that the incapacity was on the relevant date, and is, likely to be permanent,

there may be granted to such person such pension or gratuity as the Minister and the Minister for Finance, in their absolute discretion, think fit, but the grant shall not exceed such grant as could have been duly made under the Order of 1922 or the Order of 1925 (as may be appropriate) to such person if he had, on the relevant date, retired on medical certificate and the Minister and the Minister for Finance were, on the relevant date, satisfied that such person was incapacitated for the performance of his duty by infirmity of mind or body and that such incapacity was likely to be permanent.

(2) Where a grant of a pension is made under this Article, the pension shall be payable as from the date of the relevant medical certificate.

(3) Where a grant is made under this Article and the whole or any part of the rateable deductions made from the grantee's pay was paid to him or applied for the benefit of his wife or children on his leaving the force, the total sum so paid or applied shall be refunded to the Minister by the grantee, or may, at thediscretion of the Minister, be recovered by deduction or deductions from any payment or payments falling to be made in respect of the grant.

22. Where—

(a) an allowance in respect of a child under subparagraph 1 of paragraph C of Part II of the First Schedule to the Order of 1925 stood payable immediately before the making of the Garda Síochána Pensions Order, 1950 ( S. R. & O. No. 154 of 1950 ), and

(b) the allowance stands payable, or would stand payable but for the child having attained the age of sixteen years, on the critical date,

the allowance shall, as well as being an allowance payable until the attainment of the age of sixteen years, also be payable in respect of any period after the critical date during which the child is over the age of sixteen years and under the age of twenty-one years, being a period during which he is receiving full-time instruction at an educational establishment or is apprenticed to a trade or profession in which he does not receive any remuneration other than a return of fees.

TABLE I.

ORDINARY PENSIONS.

Scale.

1/80th of the annual pay for every completed year of approved service with, in the case of a member to whom paragraph (3) of Article 9 of this Order does not apply, an additional 1/80th of the annual pay for the 21st and every subsequent completed year of approved service, but so that the pension shall not exceed one-half of the annual pay.

In the case of a member of the force whose approved service is reckoned pursuant to the said paragraph (3) and who is in receipt of any pension or pensions payable out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas or out of the Central Fund or out of the funds of a local authority not being a pension under this Order as amended or varied by any subsequent Orders (herein referred to as a Garda Pension) and not being a pension under the Military Service Pensions Acts, 1924 to 1949, his Garda Pension shall for any period in respect of which he is in receipt of the first-mentioned pension or pensions, be reduced so that, with the said first-mentioned pension or pensions and the annuity value (calculated in such manner as the Minister for Finance may direct) of any retirement gratuity received by him under the Garda Síochána PensionsOrder, 1951, it shall not exceed in the aggregate two-thirds of the annual pay, but the maximum reduction which may be so made shall be the amount by which the Garda Pension exceeds the Garda Pension which the member would have been entitled to receive but for the application to him of the said paragraph (3).

TABLE II.

SPECIAL PENSIONS.

(1) On total disablement from an injury received in the execution of duty—

(a) where the number of completed years of approved service is less than two, forty-five sixtieths of the annual pay ;

(b) where the number of completed years of approved service is two or more, a special pension consisting of the sum of :—

(i) an amount equal to the appropriate number of eigthieths of the annual pay, but so that the amount shall not exceed one-half of the annual pay,

(ii) an amount equal to such proportion of the annual pay as is specified in scale number 1 set out in the subjoined table, except that the number of sixtieths in accordance with that scale shall be reduced by the same number of sixtieths, subject to a maximum of forty, as there are of eightieths in the appropriate number of eightieths.

(2) On partial disablement from an injury received in the execution of duty—such proportion of the special pension applicable in the case of total disablement as the degree of disablement bears to total disablement : provided that the special pension shall not be less than—

(a) where the number of years of approved service is less than two, twenty sixtieths of the annual pay ;

(b) where the number of years of approved service is two or more, the sum of :—

(i) an amount equal to the appropriate number of eightieths of the annual pay, but so that the amount shall not exceed one-half of the annual pay,

(ii) an amount equal to such proportion of the annual pay as is specified in scale number 3 in the sub-joined table, except that the number of sixtieths in accordance with that scale shall be reduced by the same number of sixtieths, subject to a maximum of forty, as there are of eightieths in the appropriate number of eightieths.

(3) In the foregoing paragraphs " the appropriate number of eightieths " means one-eightieth for every completed year of approved service with an additional one-eightieth for the twenty-first and every subsequent completed year of approved service.

TABLE III.

ORDINARY PENSIONS.

Scale.

1/80th of the annual pay for every completed year of approved service with, in the case of a member of the force to whom paragraph (9) of Article 9 of this Order does not apply, an additional 1/80th of the annual pay for the 21st and every subsequent completed year of approved service but so that the pension shall not exceed one-half of the annual pay.

In the case of a member of the force whose approved service is reckoned pursuant to the said paragraph (9) and who is in receipt of any pension or pensions payable out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas or out of the Central Fund or out of the funds of a local authority not being a pension under this Order as amended by any subsequent Orders (herein referred to as a Garda Pension) and not being a pension under the Military Service Pensions Acts, 1924 to 1949, his Garda Pension shall, for any period in respect of which he is in receipt of the first-mentioned pension or pensions, be reduced so that, with the first-mentioned pension or pensions and the annuity value (calculated in such manner as the Minister for Finance may direct) of any retirement gratuity received by him under the Garda Síochána Pensions Order, 1951, it shall not exceed in the aggregate two-thirds of the annual pay, but the maximum reduction which may be so made shall be the amount by which the Garda Pension exceeds the Garda Pension which the member would have been entitled to receive but for the application to him of the said paragraph (9).

GIVEN under my Official Seal this 29th day of December, 1951.

(Signed) GERALD BOLAND,

Minister for Justice.

I hereby sanction the foregoing Order.

GIVEN under my Official Seal this 2nd day of January, 1952.

(Signed) SEÁN MACENTEE,

Minister for Finance.