Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) and Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices (Amendment) Act , 1992

1 Definitions.

1.—In this Act—

“the Act of 1938” means the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) Act, 1938;

“the Act of 1952” means the Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices (Amendment) Act, 1952;

“the Act of 1977” means the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) and Ministerial, Parliamentary and Judicial Offices (Amendment) Act, 1977;

“the Houses of the Oireachtas (Members) Pensions Scheme” means the Houses of the Oireachtas (Members) Pensions Scheme which was made under section 6A of the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) Act, 1938 (inserted by section 5 of the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) and Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices (Amendment) Act, 1960), and came into operation on the 1st day of December, 1960, as amended by the Houses of the Oireachtas (Members) Pensions (Amendment) Scheme, 1986 (S.I. No. 431 of 1986), the Houses of the Oireachtas (Members) Pensions (Amendment) (No. 2) Scheme, 1986 (S.I. No. 432 of 1986) and the Houses of the Oireachtas (Members) Pensions (Amendment) Scheme, 1988 (S.I. No. 223 of 1988);

“Minister of State” means a person appointed under section 1 of the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) (No. 2) Act, 1977, to be a Minister of State at a Department of State;

“the Principal Act” means the Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices Act, 1938.

2 Salary for members of Oireachtas.

2.—The allowance payable to each member of the Oireachtas under section 2 of the Act of 1938 shall be designated as an annual sum by way of salary and references to the said allowance in that Act or any other Act of the Oireachtas or in any instrument made under any Act of the Oireachtas shall be construed accordingly.

3 Allowances for expenses for members of Oireachtas.

3.—(1) There shall be paid to each member of the Oireachtas out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas an annual sum (referred to subsequently in this section as “an allowance”) in full settlement of expenses—

(a) which are not otherwise reimbursed, directly or indirectly, out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, and

(b) which the member is obliged to incur—

(i) in the performance of his duties as a member of the Oireachtas, and

(ii) in case the member is also the holder of an office referred to in Part II of the Principal Act, in the performance of the duties of that office.

(2) An allowance shall be payable monthly in respect of periods for which the person concerned is paid an annual sum by way of salary under section 2 of the Act of 1938 (as amended by section 2 of this Act).

(3) An allowance shall not be taken into account for the purposes of calculating superannuation benefits or the allowances payable under section 5 of this Act or under Part V of the Principal Act (inserted by section 10 of this Act).

(4) The Minister for Finance may by regulations determine—

(a) the date from which an allowance is payable,

(b) the rate of an allowance payable to a member or members of Dáil Éireann,

(c) the rate of an allowance payable to a member or members of Seanad Éireann,

(d) any method of future revision of an allowance, and

(e) conditions governing payment of an allowance.

(5) Every regulation made under this section 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 House within the next 21 days on which that House has sat after the regulation has been laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

4 Allowance payable under section 3 to be exempt from income tax.

4.—(1) An allowance payable under section 3 of this Act shall be exempt from income tax and shall not be reckoned in computing income for the purposes of the Income Tax Acts.

(2) The provisions of rules 3 and 4 of Schedule 2 to the Income Tax Act, 1967, shall not apply or have effect in relation to expenses in full settlement of which an allowance is payable under the said section 3 and no claim shall lie under those rules in respect of those expenses:

Provided that where a Minister of the Government, the Attorney General or a Minister of State, being—

(a) a member of Dáil Éireann for a constituency which is outside the county borough and the administrative county of Dublin, or

(b) a member of Seanad Éireann whose main residence is situated outside the said county borough and administrative county,

is, arising out of the performance of his duties as an office holder or as a member of the Oireachtas, obliged to maintain a second residence, in addition to his main residence, he shall be granted a deduction under the said rule 3 in respect of expenses incurred by him in maintaining that second residence.

5 Termination allowances for former members of Oireachtas.

5.—(1) A member of either House of the Oireachtas who ceases to be such a member may, on such cesser and subject to regulations made under this section, be granted an allowance, referred to subsequently in this section as “a termination allowance”, payable out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

(2) The Minister for Finance may by regulations determine—

(a) the rate or rates of a termination allowance payable to a former member or members of Dáil Éireann,

(b) the rate or rates of a termination allowance payable to a former member or members of Seanad Éireann, and

(c) in respect of a former member or members of either House of the Oireachtas, such restrictions and conditions governing entitlement to and payment of a termination allowance as the Minister thinks fit.

(3) Every regulation made under this section 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 House within the next 21 days on which that House has sat after the regulation has been laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

(4) This section shall come into operation on such day as the Minister for Finance may appoint by order, being a day not earlier than the passing of this Act.

6 Amendment of section 13 of Principal Act.

6.—Section 13 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion of the following definitions—

“‘the operative date’ means the first day on which a Taoiseach is elected by Dáil Éireann following the general election for DáilÉireann which next occurs after the passing of the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) and Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices (Amendment) Act, 1992;

‘pre-qualified person’ means a person to whom section 13A of this Act (inserted by the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) and Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices (Amendment) Act, 1992) does not apply, and who, on or prior to the operative date, has completed not less than 3 years' service in a qualifying office or in a number of such offices.”.

7 Ministerial pensions and secretarial pensions.

7.—The Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after section 13 of the following sections:

“Ministerial pensions and secretarial pensions.

13A.—(1) This section shall apply to—

(a) any person who, on the operative date—

(i) has not previously served in a qualifying office, or

(ii) has served in a qualifying office, or in a number of such offices, for less than 1,095 days,

(b) any person who—

(i) is on the operative date a member of either House of the Oireachtas or a representative in the European Parliament or is appointed as Attorney General on that date or who, on the last day on which Dáil Éireann met prior to that date—

(I) held a qualifying office, or

(II) was a member of Dáil Éireann and had previously held the office of Taoiseach,

and

(ii) on or prior to the operative date has completed not less than 1,095 days' service in a qualifying office, or in a number of such offices, and

(iii) not later than 3 months after the operative date—

(I) elects, in such a manner as the Minister for Finance may determine, that this section should apply in his case, or

(II) dies and has not so elected,

and

(c) any person, other than a person referred to in paragraph (b) of this subsection, who—

(i) prior to the operative date has completed not less than 1,095 days' service in a qualifying office, or in a number of such offices, and

(ii) after the operative date, becomes a member of either House of the Oireachtas or becomes a representative in the European Parliament or is appointed as Attorney General, and

(iii) who, not later than 3 months after the date on which he becomes a member of either such House or becomes a representative in the European Parliament or the date of such appointment, as appropriate—

(I) elects, in such a manner as the Minister for Finance may determine, that this section should apply in his case, or

(II) dies and has not so elected:

Provided that this section shall not apply to—

(a) a person who satisfies the conditions set out in subparagraphs (b) (i) and (b) (ii), or in subparagraphs (c) (i) and (c) (ii), of this subsection and who, within the period of 3 months referred to in subparagraph (b) (iii) or subparagraph (c) (iii) of this subsection, as appropriate, elects, in such a manner as the Minister for Finance shall determine, that this section should not apply in his case, or

(b) a deceased person referred to in subparagraph (b) (iii) (II) or subparagraph (c) (iii) (II) of this subsection, if the amount of a pension payable under section 20 of this Act to the widow or widower of that person would thereby be reduced.

(2) With effect from the operative date or, in the case of a person to whom this section applies by virtue of paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of this section, the date referred to in subparagraph (iii) of the said paragraph (c), sections 14, 16 and 17 of this Act shall cease to apply to any person to whom this section applies and any pension in payment to such person pursuant to the said sections 14, 16 and 17 shall be discontinued.

(3) Subject to subsection (7) of this section—

(a) a person to whom this section applies and who on ceasing to hold a qualifying office has completed not less than 3 years of ministerial service shall, on such cesser, be entitled to a ministerial pension, and

(b) any other person to whom this section applies and who on ceasing to hold a qualifying office has completed not less than 3 years of secretarial service shall, on such cesser, be entitled to a secretarial pension.

(4) For the purposes of this section—

(a) the number of years of a person's ministerial service shall be taken to be the result obtained by dividing by 365 the aggregate of—

(i) the number of days during which the person held a ministerial office,

and, if the number of such days is not less than 1,095,

(ii) half the number of days, if any, during which the person held a qualifying office other than a ministerial office,

(b) the number of years of a person's secretarial service shall be taken to be the result obtained by dividing by 365 the total number of days during which the person held a qualifying office:

Provided that any fraction of a year in the result obtained under paragraph (a) or (b) of this subsection shall be disregarded.

(5) (a) A pension under this section shall be at the rate of 25 per cent. of the appropriate salary, plus 5 per cent. of the appropriate salary for each additional year of service in excess of 3 years, subject to a maximum of 7 such additional years.

(b) In this subsection ‘the appropriate salary’ means:

(i) as respects a ministerial pension—

(I) in case the person concerned has held the office of Taoiseach, the annual sum payable for the time being by way of salary to the Taoiseach,

(II) in case the person concerned has held the office of Tánaiste for a period of not less than 3 years, the annual sum payable for the time being by way of salary to the Tánaiste,

(III) in case the person concerned has held the office of Tánaiste for a period of less than 3 years, the amount arrived at by the formula

D _ T	S1	(TD) _____ T	S2

where D is the number of days during which the person served as Tánaiste, T is the total number of days during which the person served in a ministerial office (subject to a maximum of 3,650 days), S1 is the annual sum payable for the time being by way of salary to the Tánaiste and S2 is the annual sum payable for the time being by way of salary to a member of the Government other than the Taoiseach or the Tánaiste,

(IV) in any other case, the annual sum payable for the time being by way of salary to a member of the Government other than the Taoiseach or the Tánaiste,

(ii) as respects a secretarial pension—

(I) in case the person concerned—

(A) held a ministerial office on or after the 1st day of January, 1978, or

(B) has served for not less than 3 years in a qualifying office, or in a number of such offices, other than an office which became a qualifying office by virtue of subsection 5 (1) of the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) and Ministerial, Parliamentary and Judicial Offices (Amendment) Act, 1983,

the annual sum payable for the time being by way of salary to the holder of the office of Minister of State,

(II) in any other case, the annual sum payable for the time being by way of salary in respect of the last qualifying office, other than a ministerial office, held by the person concerned.

(c) In this subsection ‘service’ means ministerial service in the case of a person who is entitled to a ministerial pension and secretarial service in the case of a person who is entitled to a secretarial pension.

(6) A person shall not be entitled to a pension under this section with effect from a date which is earlier than the operative date.

(7) (a) Where a person who is entitled to a pension under this section applies to the Minister for Finance therefor, such pension shall commence to be payable—

(i) in case he so applies not later than 6 months after the date on which he became so entitled, as and from that date, and

(ii) in any other case, as and from the date of his application.

(b) Subject to paragraphs (c) and (d) of this subsection, a person shall not be entitled to a pension under this section if—

(i) he is in receipt of a severance allowance under Part V of this Act, or

(ii) he has not attained the age of 55 years.

(c) Subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (b) of this subsection shall not apply to a person in respect of whom it is established to the satisfaction of the Minister for Finance that he is precluded from earning a livelihood by reason of permanent physical or mental disability.

(d) Notwithstanding the said subparagraph (ii), a person who has attained the age of 50 years and who, but for the said subparagraph (ii), would be entitled to a pension under this section may, on application to the Minister for Finance therefor, be paid such pension—

(i) in case he applies not later than 6 months after the date on which, but for the said subparagraph (ii), he would have been entitled to such pension, as and from that date, and

(ii) in any other case, as and from the date of his application,

but such pension (referred to subsequently in this section as ‘a discounted pension’) shall be reduced by such amount as, having regard to the person's age on the date on which the pension commences to be paid, shall be prescribed by regulations made from time to time by the Minister for Finance.

(e) Where a discounted pension is paid to a person, and such pension ceases to be payable pursuant to subsection (1) of section 23 of this Act, then, if the person concerned subsequently becomes entitled to a pension under this section, the provisions of paragraph (d) of this subsection shall continue to apply in respect of that portion of the pension which relates to service given prior to his application to the Minister for Finance under the said paragraph (d).

(f) Subject to subsection (8) of this section, the amount of a pension or a discounted pension under this section shall be reduced by 50 per cent. during any period during which the person to whom it is payable is a member of either House of the Oireachtas or a representative in the European Parliament.

(8) Subsection (7) (f) of this section shall not apply to a person who has held the office of Taoiseach.

Special pension arrangements for pre-qualified persons.

13B.—(1) This section applies to any person who is a pre-qualified person and who holds a qualifying office on or after the operative date.

(2) As and from the operative date, section 14 or section 16 of this Act, as appropriate, shall not apply to a person to whom this section applies in respect of service given by him after that date.

(3) In this section, ‘original pension’, in relation to a person to whom this section applies, means the pension to which that person was entitled under section 14 or section 16 of this Act, as appropriate, on the operative date, or, if the person held a qualifying office on that date, the pension to which he would have been so entitled if he had ceased to hold office on that date.

(4) Subject to subsection (7) of this section, a person to whom this section applies who ceases to hold a qualifying office after the operative date shall be entitled to receive, in addition to his original pension, a further pension (referred to subsequently in this section as ‘a supplementary pension’).

(5) (a) The amount of a supplementary pension shall be—

(i) in the case of a person whose original pension is a ministerial pension, 5 per cent. of the appropriate salary (within the meaning of section 13A of this Act) multiplied by the number of relevant years,

(ii) in the case of a person whose original pension is a secretarial pension and who on ceasing to hold a qualifying office after the operative date would, but for subsection (2) of this section, have been entitled to a ministerial pension under section 14 of this Act, an amount equal to the difference between—

(A) the amount of the ministerial pension which would then be payable to the person if such pension was calculated in accordance with subsections (4) and (5) of section 13A of this Act, and

(B) the amount of the person's original pension,

(iii) in the case of a person, other than a person referred to in subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph, whose original pension is a secretarial pension, 5 per cent. of the appropriate salary (within the meaning aforesaid) multiplied by the number of relevant years.