15.—(1) Subject to subsection (2), on a person's ceasing to hold the office of Comptroller and Auditor General, there shall be granted to him a pension for life which—

F4[(a) he has reached the age of 60 years or, where section 10 of the Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2004 applies to such person, 65 years, or]

(b) if he has held that office for a period of not less than 20 years, shall be of an amount equal to two-thirds of his salary at the time of such cesser.

(2) A pension shall not be granted to a person under subsection (1) unless—

(a) he has reached the age of 60 years, or

(b) owing to permanent infirmity disabling him from the due execution of the office of Comptroller and Auditor General, he has ceased to hold that office and the infirmity has been established to the satisfaction of persons specified by the Minister in such manner as he may determine.

(3) Subject to any provision to the contrary in a scheme under section 2 of the Superannuation and Pensions Act, 1976, a person serving in an established capacity in the Civil Service who is appointed to the office of Comptroller and Auditor General shall, if he so elects, be entitled to have applied to or in respect of him the provisions of the Superannuation Acts, 1934 to 1963, and the said Act, as those Acts were applicable to him while so serving in the Civil Service, in lieu of the provisions of subsection (1) and his service as Comptroller and Auditor General shall, for the purposes of such application, be deemed to be service in an established capacity in the Civil Service and to be reckonable with his actual service in an established capacity in the Civil Service.

(4) (a) The Minister may make a scheme providing for the granting of pensions to the spouses and children of deceased persons who have held the office of Comptroller and Auditor General and who—

(i) were not, at the time of appointment to that office, persons serving in established positions in the Civil Service,

(ii) being at that time such persons, did not elect to have the provisions of the Superannuation Acts, 1834 to 1963, applied to them, or

(iii) are not persons to whom a provision contained in a scheme under the Superannuation and Pensions Act, 1976, by virtue of section 2 (2) (h) of that Act, applies.

(b) The Minister may, by a subsequent scheme, amend or revoke a scheme under this subsection, including a scheme under this paragraph.

(5) Payments under or by virtue of subsection (1), (3) or (4) of this section shall be charged upon and paid out of the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof.

(6) F5[(a) The age of retirement of a person appointed to the office of Comptroller and Auditor General after 1 October 1993 shall be 70 years or, where a higher age is prescribed by order under section 3A(2) of the Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2004 for the purposes of that Act, that age but, where the person is a new entrant (within the meaning of that Act) appointed on or after 1 April 2004, the requirement to vacate office on grounds of age shall not apply.]

(b) The age of retirement of the person holding the office of Comptroller and Auditor General upon such commencement shall be 70 years.