121.—(1) The Board shall prepare and submit to the Minister for his or her approval, a scheme or schemes for the granting of pensions, gratuities and other allowances on retirement or death to or in respect of such whole-time employees of the Board as it considers appropriate.

(2) The Board may, at any time, prepare and submit to the Minister a scheme amending a scheme under this section.

(3) Where a scheme is submitted to the Minister pursuant to this section, the Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, approve the scheme without modification or with such modification (whether by way of addition, omission or variation) as the Minister shall, with such consent, think proper.

(4) A scheme submitted to the Minister under this section shall, if approved of by the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, be carried out by the Board in accordance with its terms.

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

(6) If any dispute arises as to the claim of any person to, or the amount of, any pension, gratuity or other allowance payable in pursuance of a scheme under this section, the dispute shall be submitted to the Minister who shall refer it to the Minister for Finance, whose decision shall be final.

(7) Every scheme 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 21 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.