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Non-contributory pensions to former members of Houses of the Oireachtas in necessitous circumstances.
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29.—(1) (a) This section applies to a person—
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(i) who is over fifty years of age and is either incapacitated by ill-health or over sixty years of age,
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(ii) who is not, and was not after the 30th day of April, 1960, a member of Dáil Éireann or Seanad Éireann,
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(iii) who was a member of Dáil Éireann or Seanad Éireann on or before the 30th day of April, 1960,
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(iv) whose service is 3,460 days or more, and
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(v) who is not in receipt of a pension under the Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices Acts, 1938 to 1960.
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(b) In paragraph (a) of this subsection “service” means the period or the aggregate of the periods during which the person in question was in receipt of an allowance as a member of Dáil Éireann or Seanad Éireann.
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(2) (a) An application for a pension may be made to the Minister by or on behalf of a person to whom this section applies.
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(b) Every such application shall be made in such form as the Minister may require.
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(3) On any such application by or on behalf of a person to whom this section applies, the Minister may grant a pension to that person.
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(4) The making of a grant under this section shall be at the discretion of the Minister except that he shall not make a grant unless he is satisfied that, having regard to the financial circumstances of the person by whom or on whose behalf the application is made, a grant is justified and, where he makes any such grant, the amount of the pension shall, subject to the next subsection, also be at his discretion.
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(5) A pension under this section shall not exceed £350 per annum and, in fixing its amount, the Minister shall have regard to the financial circumstances of the grantee.
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(6) The Minister may make such arrangements as he thinks fit for the examination of applications under this section (including reference of applications to a committee of members of the Houses of the Oireachtas set up for the purpose).
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(7) A grant made under this section may, if the Minister so thinks proper, be a grant having effect as from a date which is prior to the date of the grant but is not earlier than the date of the application.
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(8) Payment of a pension under this section shall be subject to the making by the payee of a declaration in such form and at such times as the Minister may direct.
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(9) Where a person to whom a pension under this section has been granted becomes entitled to sit in either House of the Oireachtas, the pension under this section shall be cancelled as from the date on which such person's allowance as a member of that House commences.
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(10) The fact that a pension under this section has, in the case of a particular person, been refused once or more often shall not prevent the subsequent grant to that person of such a pension.
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(11) Where the Minister made before the passing of this Act a grant which, if this section had then been in force, would have been a grant proper to be made under this section, or would have been such a grant if it had effect from the date of the application therefor, the grant shall be and shall be deemed always to have been a grant properly made under this section.
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