Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Act 2012

Calculation of retirement benefits — members of either House of the Oireachtas.

24.— (1) A person having completed the vesting period and having been a member of either House of the Oireachtas shall, subject to section 52 , be eligible to receive a pension and a lump sum as provided for by this section if he or she either—

(a) has attained normal pension age and is no longer a member of either such House, or

(b) after attaining normal pension age ceases, other than by death, to be a member of either such House,

and is not serving as President or as a member of the European Parliament or does not hold a pensionable public service position on the appointment or nomination of the Government or of a member of the Government.

(2) A person who is a Scheme member or former Scheme member to whom subsection (1) relates shall, upon application being made to the relevant authority, be eligible to receive—

(a) an annual pension equivalent to the sum of the referable amounts in respect of each calendar year or part of a calendar year as a member of either House of the Oireachtas, subject to a maximum equivalent to one-half of the annualised rate at that time of the pensionable remuneration that stands provided for the person concerned as a member of either such House, and

(b) a lump sum payment equivalent to the sum of the referable amounts in respect of each calendar year or part of a calendar year as a member of either House of the Oireachtas, subject to a maximum equivalent to one and a half times the annualised rate at that time of the pensionable remuneration that stands provided for the person concerned as a member of either such House.

(3) In this section “referable amounts in respect of each calendar year or part of a calendar year”, in relation to a calendar year or part of a calendar year of service, means—

(a) in the case of an annual pension an amount calculated at a rate of 2.5 per cent of the Scheme member’s pensionable remuneration for that year or part of a year as a member of either House of the Oireachtas, and

(b) in the case of a lump sum payment an amount calculated at a rate of 7.5 per cent of the Scheme member’s pensionable remuneration for that year or part of a year as a member of either House of the Oireachtas,

as adjusted thereafter, until payment of the pension and the lump sum arises in accordance with this Part, by reference to such adjustments as may arise as provided for in section 40 .