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

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Calculation of retirement benefits — designated office holders.

25.— (1) A person having completed the vesting period and having been a designated office holder shall, subject to section 52 and upon application being made to the relevant authority, 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 designated office holder, or

(b) after attaining normal pension age ceases, other than by death, to be a designated office holder.

(2) A person who is a Scheme member or former Scheme member to whom subsection (1) relates shall 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 designated office holder, subject to a maximum of one-half of the annualised rate at that time of the pensionable remuneration that stands provided for the person concerned at the time of his or her retirement, 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 but—

(i) in the case of a designated office holder who last held one of the designated offices set out in paragraphs (e), (f), (g) or (h) of the definition of “designated office holder” in subsection (3), subject to a maximum equivalent to three-quarters of the annualised rate at that time of the pensionable remuneration that stands provided for the designated office holder at the time of his or her retirement, and

(ii) in the case of any other designated office holder, 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 that designated office holder at the time of his or her retirement.

(3) In this section—

“designated office holder” means each of the following:

(a) the Director of Public Prosecutions;

(b) the Ombudsman;

(c) the Master of the High Court;

(d) a county registrar, being a person appointed as such under section 35 of the Court Officers Act 1926 ;

(e) a member of the Labour Court;

(f) a member of An Bord Pleanála;

(g) a member of the Competition Authority;

(h) a director of the Environmental Protection Agency;

(i) a Revenue Appeals Commissioner;

(j) a person holding any other office or other position in a public service body that, in the opinion of the Minister, having consulted with such other persons (if any) as the Minister considers appropriate in the circumstances, is analogous to a position to which paragraph (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g), (h) or (i) relates and which has been prescribed by the Minister for the purposes of this definition;

“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 for a designated office holder—

(a) who holds office on a basis which is not fully insured for social welfare purposes, means—

(i) for the purpose of the calculation of an annual pension, an amount calculated at a rate of 1.67 per cent of the Scheme member’s pensionable remuneration for that year or part of a year as a designated office holder as adjusted, when not working on a full-time basis, by reference to the proportion that the number of hours worked bears to the number of hours that would have been worked if working on a full-time basis,

(ii) for the purpose of the calculation of a lump sum payment, an amount calculated—

(I) in the case of a designated office holder to whom subsection (2)(b)(i) relates, at a rate of 2.5 per cent, and

(II) in the case of a designated office holder to whom subsection (2)(b)(ii) relates, at a rate of 5 per cent,

of the Scheme member’s pensionable remuneration for that year or part of a year as a designated office holder as adjusted, when not working on a full-time basis, by reference to the proportion that the number of hours worked bears to the number of hours that would have been worked if working on a full-time basis,

and 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 ,

(b) who holds office on a basis which is fully insured for social welfare purposes, means—

(i) for the purpose of the calculation of an annual pension, an amount calculated at a rate of—

(I) 0.58 per cent of the Scheme member’s pensionable remuneration for that year or part of a year as a designated office holder that is less than or equal to 3.74 times the value of the contributory State Pension at that time, adjusted, when not working on a full-time basis, by reference to the proportion that the number of hours worked bears to the number of hours that would have been worked if working on a full-time basis, and

(II) 1.67 per cent of the Scheme member’s pensionable remuneration for that year or part of a year as a designated office holder that is greater than 3.74 times the value of the contributory State Pension at that time, adjusted, when not working on a full-time basis, by reference to the proportion that the number of hours worked bears to the number of hours that would have been worked if working on a full-time basis,

(ii) for the purpose of the calculation of a lump sum payment, an amount calculated—

(I) in the case of a designated office holder to whom subsection (2)(b)(i) relates, at a rate of 2.5 per cent, and

(II) in the case of a designated office holder to whom subsection (2)(b)(ii) relates, at a rate of 5 per cent,

of the Scheme member’s pensionable remuneration for that year or part of a year as a designated office holder as adjusted, when not working on a full-time basis, by reference to the proportion that the number of hours worked bears to the number of hours that would have been worked if working on a full-time basis,

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