Local Government (Superannuation) Act , 1956

PART I. Preliminary and General.

1 Short title.

1.—This Act may be cited as the Local Government (Superannuation) Act, 1956.

2 Interpretation.

2.—In this Act—

“the Act of 1925” means the Local Government Act, 1925 (No. 5 of 1925);

“the Act of 1948” means the Local Government (Superannuation) Act, 1948 (No. 4 of 1948);

“the appropriate Minister” means—

(a) in case the local authority in question are a vocational education committee, the Minister for Education,

(b) in case the local authority in question are a committee of agriculture, the Minister for Agriculture,

(c) in any other case, the Minister;

“civil service”, when used without qualification, includes, in addition to the civil service of the Government, the civil services mentioned in paragraphs (a), (b), (e) and (f) of subsection (1) of section 2 of the Superannuation Act, 1936 (No. 39 of 1936);

“emolument” means, subject to sections 26 and 46, any apartments, rations, or other perquisites in kind (or, as the case may require, a monetary payment given in lieu of such apartments, rations, or other perquisites) appertaining to an office or employment and all fees, poundage and commission of an officer or servant as such for his own use;

“established position”, when used in relation to the civil service, has the same meaning as it has in the Superannuation Act, 1936 (No. 39 of 1936);

“fire brigade officer” means an officer of a fire brigade authority under the Fire Brigades Act, 1940 (No. 7 of 1940), who is whole-time as such and whose duties include attendance at fires;

“fire brigade servant” means a servant of a fire brigade authority under the Fire Brigades Act, 1940 (No. 7 of 1940), who is whole-time as such and whose duties include attendance at fires;

“harbour authority” means a harbour authority within the meaning of the Harbours Act, 1946 (No. 9 of 1946);

“local authority” means, subject to subsection (6) of section 5 of this Act, any of the following bodies:

(a) a local authority for the purposes of the Local Government Acts, 1925 to 1955, other than a mental hospital board,

(b) a vocational education committee,

(c) a committee of agriculture,

(d) a school attendance committee,

(e) the Dublin Fever Hospital Board;

“mental hospital board” means a joint board within the meaning of the Mental Treatment Act, 1945 (No. 19 of 1945);

“mental hospital officer” means an officer whose duties relate wholly to the functions now vested in a mental hospital authority under the Mental Treatment Act, 1945 (No. 19 of 1945);

“mental hospital servant” means a servant whose duties relate wholly to the functions now vested in a mental hospital authority under the Mental Treatment Act, 1945 (No. 19 of 1945);

“the Minister” means the Minister for Local Government;

“officer” does not include a mental hospital officer or a person holding any of the offices mentioned in section 17 of the Local Government Act, 1941 (No. 23 of 1941);

“pensionable local service”—

(a) in relation to a pensionable officer, has the meaning assigned to it in section 12 of this Act, and

(b) in relation to a pensionable servant, has the meaning assigned to it in section 35 of this Act;

“pensionable officer” means an officer of a local authority whose name is entered in the register of pensionable officers maintained by such local authority under section 7 of this Act;

“pensionable servant” means a servant of a local authority whose name is entered in the register of pensionable servants maintained by such local authority under section 30 of this Act;

“permanent officer” means an officer whose appointment was, at the time thereof, declared to be an appointment in a permanent capacity;

“registrable officer” means a permanent officer who—

(a) devotes the whole of his time to the service of one or more than one local authority,

(b) in the case of an officer who acts as superintendent registrar of births, deaths and marriages or as registrar of marriages, devotes the remainder of his time to the service of one or more than one local authority,

(c) is required to be a registered medical practitioner, or

(d) is a midwife whose name is entered under section 28;

“salary” means, subject to section 26, payments as salary to an officer as such for his own use and, in the case of an officer who is suspended or absent on leave and who, as respects the period of suspension or absence, does not receive a part of the payments as salary to him for his own use which he would have received if he had not been suspended or absent on leave, includes that part;

“servant” includes a person holding any of the offices mentioned in section 17 of the Local Government Act, 1941 (No. 23 of 1941), other than the office of coroner, but does not include a mental hospital servant;

“service day” means—

(a) a day on which the servant worked in a wholetime capacity for one or more than one local authority, the work not being work (other than work in a supervisory capacity or work calling for special experience or skill which is not given to him by reference to the provision of employment for him or the relief of his distress) on any work or scheme of works the expenses of which are in whole or in part met from moneys provided by the Oireachtas for the provision of employment and the relief of distress,

(b) a day (other than a Sunday) in respect of which the servant was given paid leave,

(c) a day (other than a Sunday) in respect of which the servant was paid compensation under the Workmen's Compensation Acts, 1934 to 1955 by a local authority, provided that the accident occurred on a day such as is referred to in paragraph (a) of this definition and that either—

(i) the whole of the period in respect of which the compensation was paid was not more than one year, or

(ii) where the whole of the period in respect of which the compensation was paid was more than one year, the day occurred during such portion of the period as was before the expiration of one year from its commencement, or

(d) a day (other than a Sunday or a day on which he was on permanent service) on which the servant was attending and performing his duty as a member of the Reserve Defence Force on full pay;

“the Superannuation Acts” means the Superannuation Acts, 1834 to 1954;

“unfitness” means unfitness of an officer or servant for his office or employment, but does not include unfitness due to infirmity of mind or body or old age;

“wages” means, subject to section 46, payments as wages to a servant as such for his own use and—

(a) in the case of a servant who is suspended or absent on leave and who, as respects the period of suspension or absence, does not receive a part of the payments as wages to him for his own use which he would have received if he had not been suspended or absent on leave, includes that part, and

(b) in the case of a servant being paid compensation under the Workmen's Compensation Acts, 1934 to 1955, by a local authority, includes the wages that he would have received if he had not been in receipt of such compensation.

3 Laying of regulations before Houses of the Oireachtas.

3.—Every regulation made under this Act shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation is passed by either such House within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which that House has sat after the regulation is laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

4 Commencement of Part II.

4.—Part II of this Act shall come into operation on such day as the Minister by order appoints for that purpose.

5 Commencement of Part III.

5.—(1) Part III of this Act shall come into operation in relation to a local authority, being a local authority who passed a resolution under section 5 of the Act of 1948, on the 1st day of April next after the passing of this Act.

(2) A local authority, not being a local authority who have passed a resolution under section 5 of the Act of 1948, may by resolution decide to adopt Part III of this Act as on and from a specified day (being a 1st day of April) not earlier than one month after the date of the resolution.

(3) The passing of a resolution under this section shall be a reserved function for the purposes of the County Management Acts, 1940 to 1955, and for the purposes of the Acts relating to the management of any county borough.

(4) Where a local authority pass a resolution under this section deciding to adopt Part III of this Act as on and from a specified day, that Part shall come into operation in relation to them on that day.

(5) Part III of this Act shall come into operation as provided by subsections (1) and (4) of this section and not otherwise.

(6) A reference in Part III of this Act to a local authority does not include a reference to any local authority in relation to whom that Part has not come into operation save where the reference is in relation to service as an officer.

(7) The commencement of Part III of this Act in relation to a local authority shall not have the effect of applying section 53 of the Act of 1925 to such local authority.

6 Expenses of the Minister.

6.—The expenses incurred by any Minister in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

PART II. Pensionable Officers.

7 Register of pensionable officers.

7.—(1) A local authority shall maintain a register to be known as the register of pensionable officers (in this Part of this Act referred to as the register).

(2) Where a person becomes a registrable officer of a local authority, the local authority shall enter his name in the register and shall notify him accordingly within one month.

(3) An officer of a local authority aggrieved by the refusal of or failure by the local authority to enter his name in the register may appeal against the refusal or failure to the appropriate Minister and that Minister may either refuse the appeal or direct the name to be entered in the register as from a specified date and, in the latter case, the local authority shall enter the name in the register as from that date.

(4) A local authority shall keep at their principal office the register open at all reasonable times for inspection by their officers and by either—

(a) in the case of the corporation of a borough, the members of the council of the borough, or

(b) in any other case, the members of the local authority.

8 Removal from the register of person ceasing to be registrable officer.

8.—(1) A local authority shall remove from the register the name of any person who ceases to be a registrable officer of such local authority and shall notify him accordingly within one month.

(2) The removal of a name from the register may be effected by a note on the register indicating that the name has been removed and the date of the removal, and the reinstatement of a name in the register may be effected by a note on the register indicating that the name has been reinstated and the date of the reinstatement.

(3) A person aggrieved by the removal of his name by a local authority from the register may, within six months after the removal is notified to him, appeal against the removal to the appropriate Minister and that Minister may either refuse the appeal or direct the name to be reinstated in the register and, in the latter case, the local authority shall reinstate the name in the register.

9 Notification to local authority of cesser of office under another local authority.

9.—Where a pensionable officer of a local authority ceases to hold any office under them, they shall so inform any other local authority under whom such officer holds any office or employment.

10 General limitations on service to be reckoned by pensionable officer.

10.—(1) A provision of this Part of this Act entitling a pensionable officer to reckon as service any period shall be subject to the overriding qualification that he shall not be entitled so to reckon a particular period more than once nor shall he be entitled so to reckon any of the following:

(a) any period as respects which, when ordinarily entitled to remuneration in respect of a position service in which is capable of being reckoned under this Act, he was not in receipt of that remuneration, being a period after the commencement of this Part of this Act and not being a period continuous with a similar period ending on such commencement,

(b) any period in respect of which he has already received a lump sum, an allowance or a gratuity under this or any other Act relating to superannuation or under any scheme relating to superannuation service for the purposes of which is capable of being reckoned under this Act, unless in the case of a gratuity, having been entitled to repay such gratuity, he has done so,

(c) any period in respect of which any contributions for superannuation have been returned to him, unless, having been entitled to repay such contributions, he has done so,

(d) any period before a date on which he was removed or discharged from his position for misconduct or for unfitness,

(e) being a person entitled to reckon under this Act service which is not under a local authority, any period of that service which he would have been unable to reckon if he had continued to hold the position in which he had that service,

(f) any period before a date after the commencement of this Part of this Act on which he absents himself from the place where he performs his duties under a local authority or refrains from performing those duties, such absence or refraining being deliberate and unauthorised.

(2) Where a period of service of an officer of a local authority has, having regard to paragraph (f) of subsection (1) of this section, become forfeited—

(a) the local authority shall give notice in writing of the forfeiture to the officer,

(b) the officer may, not later than one month after notice has been given to him, appeal to the appropriate Minister against the forfeiture,

(c) the appropriate Minister may either refuse the appeal or declare that all or part of the period of service shall be restored and, in the latter case, the said paragraph (f) shall have effect subject to the declaration.

11 Reckoning service of pensionable officer.

11.—(1) A pensionable officer of a local authority shall be entitled to reckon as service any of the following:

(a) service as a pensionable officer of the local authority or of any other local authority,

(b) service as a pensionable servant of the local authority or of any other local authority,

(c) service during which he was a mental hospital officer or servant and which he was entitled to reckon as service for the purposes of Part VIII of the Mental Treatment Act, 1945 (No. 19 of 1945), or any earlier enactment corresponding to the said Part VIII,

(d) service in a pensionable position under a harbour authority,

(e) service which is reckonable for the purposes of the Superannuation Acts (or which, had it continued until the commencement of section 7 of the Social Welfare Act, 1950 (No. 14 of 1950), would have been reckoned by virtue of that section for the purposes of the Superannuation Acts) being service continuous with subsequent service as a pensionable officer or pensionable servant of the local authority or any other local authority or with subsequent service in a position in which service for the purposes of those Acts is reckonable,

(f) service (to such extent as the Minister either generally or in any particular case may approve) in a pensionable position under a body approved of by the Minister for the purposes of this paragraph on the basis of being a body granting pension rights such that they and the pension rights provided for by this Act are reciprocal generally,

(g) service as respects an officer of a vocational education committee that consists of—

(i) any period of pensionable service as a secondary or national school teacher other than any period, contributions being payable in respect of service during that period, in respect of which such contributions were not paid,

(ii) any period as a secondary teacher that ceased before the latest date on which he could have opted for membership of the Secondary Teachers' Superannuation Schemes and that is certified by the Minister for Education as service that could have been reckoned as pensionable and gratuity service for the purpose of those Schemes, subject to compliance by the officer with such conditions (including payment of contributions to the local authority) as the Minister for Education requires as a condition of issuing such certificate, or

(iii) a period of not less than five years, or periods of not less than five years in the aggregate,—

(I) which began after the officer attained the age of twenty-one years and ended before the 31st July, 1924, and

(II) as respects which the Minister for Education is satisfied that during the whole period thereof such officer devoted the whole of his time under the direction of Connradh na Gaeilge to the teaching of the Irish language or to the organisation of such teaching,

(h) having been a servant of a local authority, service with the Defence Forces as respects which and to the extent to which the Minister, after consultation with the Minister for Defence, considers that it would have been service as a servant of the local authority, but for its being service with the Defence Forces.

(2) In paragraph (a) and paragraph (e) of subsection (1) of this section “service as a pensionable officer” shall be deemed to include service—

(a) which, at any time before the commencement of this Part of this Act, the officer was entitled to reckon under Part II of the Act of 1948 (for this purpose subsection (1) of section 13 of the Act of 1948 being regarded as having been enacted without paragraph (b)),

(b) which the officer would, at any time before the commencement of this Part of this Act, have been entitled to reckon under Part II of the Act of 1948 if section 18 of that Act had been enacted with paragraph (b) omitted therefrom, or

(c) which, immediately before the commencement of this Part of this Act, he was entitled to reckon under Part IV of the Act of 1925 or such Act passed before the Act of 1925 and relating to superannuation as may have applied to him.

(3) Where, as respects a pensionable officer,—