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:

F37[…]

F38[(5) A pension under this section is payable to a person at the rate of 25 per cent of the person's appropriate salary, plus 5 per cent of that salary for each year of service exceeding 3, with a maximum of 7 such additional years. For the purposes of this subsection, a part of a year is to be reckoned on a proportionate basis.]

F39[(5A) For the purpose of calculating the ministerial pension of a person, the appropriate salary for the person is as follows:

(a) if the person held the office of Taoiseach—the annual salary payable to the Taoiseach;

(b) if the person held the office of Tánaiste for a period of not less than 3 years— the annual salary payable to the Tánaiste;

(c) if the person held the office of Tánaiste for a period of less than 3 years— the amount calculated in accordance with the following formula:

A  =

D × S1

+

(T-D) × S2

T

T

where—

A is the amount to be calculated,

D is the number of days during which the person served as Tánaiste,

T is the total number of days (not exceeding 3,650) during which the person served in a ministerial office,

S1 is the annual salary payable to the Tánaiste, and

S2 is the annual salary payable to a member of the Government other than the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste, and

(d) if the person held any other ministerial office — the annual salary payable to a member of the Government other than the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste.

(5B) For the purpose of calculating the secretarial pension of a person, the appropriate salary for the person is—

(a) if the person has held a ministerial office on or after 1 January, 1978, or has served for 3 years or more in one or more qualifying offices (other than a prescribed office)— the amount of annual salary payable to a Minister of State, or

(b) in the case of any other person—

(i) the amount of annual salary payable to the person in respect of the last qualifying office that the person held (other than a ministerial office), or

(ii) an amount calculated in accordance with subsection (5C),

whichever is the greater.

(5C) The calculation to be made for the purpose of subsection (5B)(b)(ii) is as follows:

Step 1: Multiply the number of days (not exceeding 3,650) during which the person held each of the qualifying offices by the amount of salary that is currently payable to the holder of the office concerned;

Step 2: If the amount of salary that is currently payable for a qualifying office that the person formerly held is higher than that for another qualifying office that the person so held, reckon the time that the person served in the first of those offices before reckoning the time that the person served in the other of those offices;

Step 3: Add together the amounts derived in accordance with step 1 for the qualifying offices that the person formerly held;

Step 4: Divide the total of the amounts so derived by the total number of days (not exceeding 3,650) during which the person held qualifying offices.

(5D) The following offices are prescribed offices for the purposes of subsection (5B):

(a) Chairman and Deputy Chairman of Seanad Éireann;

(b) Leader of the House in Seanad Éireann.

(5E) In subsection (5), "service" means—

(a) in relation to a person entitled to a ministerial pension, ministerial service, and

(b) in relation to a person entitled to a secretarial pension, secretarial service.]

(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) F40[subject to subsection (11)], 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.

F41[(b) Subject to paragraph (c), none of the following persons are entitled to a pension under this section—

(i) a person who is receiving a severance allowance under Part V of this Act, or

(ii) a person who has not reached 65 years of age, other than—

(I) a person who was a member of either House of the Oireachtas, or of the European Parliament (within the meaning of the Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2004), prior to 1 April 2004,

(II) a person who held the office of Attorney General prior to 1 April 2004, or

(III) a person who has held the office of Taoiseach,

in which cases the reference to 65 years in this paragraph shall be taken to be a reference to 50 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) F42[…]

(e) F42[…]

F43[(f) No pension under this section (including any subsisting discounted pension as previously provided for under paragraph (d)) shall be paid for as long as such person is a member of either House of the Oireachtas or a member of the European Parliament.]

(8) F43[…]]

F44[(9) F45[…]]

F39[(9) If a person who has reached 50 years of age was not entitled to a pension under this section (as in force before the commencement of section 12 of the Ministerial, Parliamentary and Judicial Offices and Oireachtas Members (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2001) only because the person had not then reached 55 years of age, the person becomes so entitled on and from the date of that commencement. A reference in this subsection to a pension does not include a discounted pension.

(10) A person who was being paid a discounted pension under this section (as in force before the commencement of section 12 of the Ministerial, Parliamentary and Judicial Offices and Oireachtas Members (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2001) is entitled to continue to receive the pension after that commencement on the same terms and conditions as applied to it immediately before that commencement.]

F46[(11) On application for a pension under this section to the Minister for Finance, by a person whose entitlement to the pension arose on or after the date of commencement of this section, the pension is payable as of and from a date that the Minister for Finance may determine in writing that is—

(a) not earlier than the date of entitlement, and

(b) not later than the date of the application.]