18. — (1) As soon as conveniently may be after the establishment day, the Board shall prepare and submit to the F69[majority-shareholding Minister] for his approval a contributory scheme or schemes for the granting of pensions, gratuities and other allowances on retirement or death to or in respect of such officers or servants of the Board as it may think fit.

(2) The Board may, at any time, prepare and submit to the F69[majority-shareholding Minister] a scheme amending or revoking a scheme under this section.

(3) Where a scheme is submitted to the F69[majority-shareholding Minister] pursuant to this section, the F69[majority-shareholding Minister] may, F69[having consulted with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform], approve the scheme.

(4) A scheme submitted to the F69[majority-shareholding Minister] under this section shall, if approved of by the F69[majority-shareholding Minister] F69[having consulted with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform], be carried out by the Board in accordance with its terms.

(5) A scheme submitted and approved under this section shall fix the time and conditions of retirement for all persons to or in respect of whom pensions, gratuities, or allowances on retirement or death are payable under the scheme, and different times and conditions may be fixed in respect of different classes of persons.

F69[(6) If any dispute arises as to the claim of any person to, or the amount of, any pension, gratuity or allowance payable in pursuance of a scheme under this section, such dispute shall be submitted to the majority-shareholding Minister who shall, having consulted with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, decide on the matter and this decision shall be final.]

(7) No pension, gratuity or other allowance shall be granted by the Board on the resignation, retirement or death of an officer or servant of the Board otherwise than in accordance with a scheme under this section.

F69[(7A) In this section—

“officers or servants of the Board” and “officer or servant of the Board” each includes the following:

(a) persons who are, or were at any time, an officer or servant of the Dublin Gas Company, a company that is, or was at any time, a subsidiary (within the meaning of the Companies Act 1963 ) of the Dublin Gas Company or a company whose assets are acquired at any time by the Board;

(b) persons who are employees of Gaslink Independent System Operator Ltd., being the company formed pursuant to Regulation 5 of the European Communities (Internal Market in Natural Gas) (BGÉ) Regulations 2005 (S.I. No. 760 of 2005);

(c) persons who are at any time prior to the disposal date in relation to an energy company (each within the meaning of the Gas Regulation Act 2013) employees of that energy company; and

(d) persons who are employees of the network company (within the meaning of the Gas Regulation Act 2013),

"on retirement or death" includes in respect of retirement or death, and

"on the resignation, retirement or death" includes in respect of the resignation, retirement or death.]

(8) Every scheme submitted and approved of under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is approved of and if either House, within the next twenty-one days on which that House has sat after the scheme is laid before it, passes a resolution annulling the scheme, the scheme shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.