Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Act 2018
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PART 3 Amendment to Pensions Act 1990 | ||
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Insertion of new Part VIIA into Pensions Act 1990 | ||
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27. The Pensions Act 1990 is amended by the insertion after Part VII of the following new Part: | ||
“Part VIIA | ||
Matters relating to satisfaction by certain members or certain persons of certain requirements relating to age at marriage or civil partnership | ||
Interpretation | ||
81K. (1) In this Part— | ||
‘Act of 2010’ means the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010 ; | ||
‘Act of 2015’ means the Marriage Act 2015 ; | ||
‘civil partnership registration’ has the meaning assigned to it by the Act of 2010; | ||
‘member’ shall be construed in accordance with subsection (2) ; | ||
‘retires’, in relation to a member, includes early retirement of a member under the defined benefit scheme concerned. | ||
(2) In this Part references to ‘member’ includes, in addition to the meaning assigned to it by section 2, a member who has died and references to ‘member’ shall be construed accordingly. | ||
(3) In this Part references to a day on which a member retires or has retired shall be construed as meaning the day on which a benefit under the defined benefit scheme concerned becomes payable to the member. | ||
Satisfaction of certain requirements relating to marriage or civil partnership in certain circumstances | ||
81L. (1) Where in a defined benefit scheme— | ||
(a) that scheme provides certain benefits for the widow, widower, spouse or civil partner of the member on the death of the member (‘beneficiary’), | ||
(b) that scheme fixes, as a condition for entitlement to benefits referred to in paragraph (a) under such scheme— | ||
(i) the age by which the member shall have married or entered into a civil partnership with the beneficiary, or | ||
(ii) that the member shall have married or entered into a civil partnership with the beneficiary on, or before, the day on which the member retires, | ||
and | ||
(c) a member of that scheme attained the age fixed for the satisfaction of the condition referred to in paragraph (b)(i) or, in the case of the condition referred to in paragraph (b)(ii), retired and— | ||
(i) on or before the day on which the member attained that age or retired he or she was in a committed relationship with a person of the same sex, and | ||
(ii) on the day on which the member attained that age or retired the member could not satisfy the condition referred to in paragraph (b)(i), or as the case may be, (b)(ii) as the member was unable— | ||
(I) to marry the person referred to in subparagraph (i) or to have a marriage, referred to in section 12 of the Act of 2015, with that person recognised in the State by virtue of the Act of 2015 not having come into operation, or | ||
(II) to enter into a civil partnership registration with the person referred to in subparagraph (i) or to have a relationship, referred to in section 5 of the Act of 2010, with that person recognised in the State as a civil partnership by virtue of the Act of 2010 not having come into operation, | ||
that member is deemed, on the date on which this section comes into operation, to have satisfied the condition referred to in paragraph (b)(i) or (b)(ii) if— | ||
(i) within 36 months of the coming into operation of the Act of 2010 the member entered into a civil partnership registration with the person referred to in paragraph (c)(i), | ||
(ii) on or before the date on which this section comes into operation, a relationship referred to in section 5 of the Act of 2010 between the member and the person referred to in paragraph (c)(i) was recognised as a civil partnership in the State pursuant to an order made under section 5 of the Act of 2010, | ||
(iii) within 36 months of the coming into operation of the Act of 2015, the member married the person referred to in paragraph (c)(i), or | ||
(iv) within 36 months of the coming into operation of section 12 of the Act of 2015, a marriage between the member and the person referred to in paragraph (c)(i) was, in accordance with that section, recognised in the State. | ||
(2) A member who, in accordance with subsection (1), is deemed to have satisfied the condition referred to in paragraph (b)(i) or (b)(ii) of subsection (1) shall be entitled to the benefits referred to in subsection (1)(a) if— | ||
(a) the contributions that are required for the purpose of obtaining the entitlement to those benefits have been paid into the scheme, and | ||
(b) where, in respect of the contributions referred to in paragraph (a), an amount is required, under section 81M, to be paid into the scheme, the amount has been paid into the scheme in accordance with that section. | ||
(3) Information in respect of the relationship referred to in subparagraph (i) of paragraph (c) of subsection (1) shall be provided by the member or person referred to in that subparagraph and shall be attested as to the truth of that information by a statutory declaration made by that member or person. | ||
(4) For the purposes of subsection (1)(c)(ii), references to a member being unable to enter into a marriage or civil partnership includes complying with any notice requirements pursuant to the Act of 2015 or under the Act of 2010. | ||
(5) Where before the day on which this section comes into operation, a member who would have satisfied paragraph (i), (ii), (iii) or (iv) of subsection (1) has died, the benefits referred to in paragraph (a) of subsection (1) shall be calculated on and from the day on which this section comes into operation. | ||
Contributions required for benefits referred to in section 81L(1)(a) | ||
81M. (1) Where a person referred to in section 81L(1)(c)(i) applies to the trustees for the payment of the benefits referred to in section 81L(1)(a) and the trustees are not satisfied that the contributions, that are required to be paid into the scheme by the member for the purpose of that member obtaining entitlement to those benefits, have been paid, the trustees shall— | ||
(a) calculate an amount, in respect of those contributions, to be paid into the scheme and the interest (if any) applied in respect of those contributions under subsection (4), and | ||
(b) notify the person in writing of the required amount. | ||
(2) Without prejudice to subsection (1), a member or, on the death of a member, a person referred to in section 81L(1)(c)(i) may, at any time, apply to the trustees of the scheme for a statement in writing as to whether all contributions required for obtaining entitlement to the benefits referred to in section 81L(1)(a) have been paid into the scheme and where some or all of those contributions— | ||
(a) have not been paid, or | ||
(b) were refunded to the member, or a personal representative of a member, whether before or after retirement or otherwise, | ||
the amount to be paid in respect of those contributions, and the interest to be applied in respect of those contributions under subsection (4). | ||
(3) A member or a person referred to in subsection (1) or (2) may, at any time following a notification referred to in subsection (1) or a statement in subsection (2), make a payment to the trustees of a scheme in respect of the contributions required for obtaining entitlement to the benefits referred to in section 81L(1)(a). | ||
(4) For the purpose of calculating the amount to be paid into the scheme in order to obtain the entitlement to the benefits referred to in section 81L(1)(a), the trustees may apply a rate of interest in respect of the amount to be paid in respect of contributions that are required for obtaining those benefits where some or all of those contributions were— | ||
(a) refunded to the member, or the personal representative of a member, and where the rate of interest is applied, it shall be applied from the date of the refund of those contributions to the date on which the calculation of the amount is made, or | ||
(b) not paid by the member and where the rate of interest is applied, it shall be applied from the date they would have been paid to the date on which the calculation of the amount is made. | ||
(5) The rate of interest to be applied by the trustees for the purpose of the calculation referred to in subsection (4) shall be the rate of interest specified in the rules of the scheme or an amount specified by an actuary for the scheme. | ||
(6) When calculating the amount to be paid into the scheme in respect of the contributions required for obtaining entitlement to the benefits referred to in section 81L(1)(a), the trustees shall, in a notification under subsection (1) or a statement under subsection (2) — | ||
(a) specify the rate of interest applied in the calculation of that amount, and | ||
(b) where, having regard to the dates referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (4), a different rate of interest is applied for a different period, they shall specify the different rates of interest applied for each such period. | ||
(7) The trustees of the scheme may request further information and documents in respect of an application made to them under this section. | ||
Enforcement of entitlement of beneficiary | ||
81N. (1) Where, in respect of a member referred to in section 81L(1)(c), a person referred to in section 81L(1)(c)(i) — | ||
(a) married that member in the State within the period referred to in section 81L(1)(iii) or whose marriage to that member was recognised in the State within the period specified in section 81L(1)(iv), or | ||
(b) entered into a civil partnership registration with that member within the period referred to in section 81L(1)(i) or whose relationship with that member is recognised as a civil partnership in the State pursuant to an order referred to, and made within the period specified, in section 81L(1)(ii), | ||
has not received the benefits referred to in section 81L(1)(a) due to him or her, the person (in this section ‘applicant’) may apply to the Circuit Court for an order under subsection (3). | ||
(2) An application under subsection (1) shall be made within 12 months of— | ||
(a) the death of the member, or | ||
(b) where the member died on or before the coming into operation of this Part, the day on which this Part comes into operation, | ||
and shall be made on notice to the trustees of the scheme. | ||
(3) The Circuit Court may make an order directing the trustees of the defined benefit scheme to pay the benefits referred to in section 81L(1)(a) which are due to the applicant where it is satisfied that the following requirements have been met: | ||
(a) the applicant and the member were in a committed relationship referred to in section 81L(1)(c)(i) on or before the day referred to in that provision; | ||
(b) the marriage or civil partnership registration was entered into, or as the case may be, recognised in the State in accordance with subparagraphs (i), (ii), (iii) or (iv) of section 81L(1) ; | ||
(c) the trustees have confirmed to the satisfaction of the Court that the requirements of section 81L(2) have been satisfied.”. |