Oireachtas (Allowances To Members) and Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices (Amendment) Act, 1992

Oireachtas (Allowances To Members) and Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices (Amendment) Act, 1992 Skip to content Disclaimer Feedback Helpdesk Gaeilge Léim go dtí an t-ábhar Séanadh Aiseolas Deasc chabhrach English Gaeilge English Produced by the Office of the Attorney General Táirgthe ag Oifig an Ard-Aighne Home Legislation Acts of the Oireachtas Statutory Instruments Pre-1922 Legislation Constitution External Resources Bills (Houses of the Oireachtas) Iris Oifigiúil / Official Gazette Revised Acts (LRC) Classified List of Legislation (LRC) Translations (acts.ie) Translations (Houses of the Oireachtas) Government Publications for Sale EU Law (EUR-Lex) FAQ Disclaimer Feedback Helpdesk Search Baile Reachtaíocht Achtanna an Oireachtais Ionstraimí Reachtúla Reachtaíocht Réamh-1922 Bunreacht Acmhainní Seachtracha Billí (Tithe an Oireachtais) Iris Oifigiúil Achtanna Athbhreithnithe (CAD) (An Coimisiún um Athchóiriú an Dlí) Liosta Rangaithe Reachtaíochta Aistriúcháin (achtanna.ie) Aistriúcháin (Tithe an Oireachtais) Foilseacháin Rialtais ar Díol Dlí AE (EUR-Lex) CCanna (Ceisteanna Coitianta) Séanadh Aiseolas Deasc chabhrach Cuardach TitleTeideal Year(s) or rangeBliain nó blianta nó raon TypeCineál All Legislation Acts Statutory Instruments Advanced SearchCuardach Casta HomeBaile ActsAchtanna 1992 Oireachtas (Allowances To Members) and Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices (Amendment) Act, 1992 Oireachtas (Allowances To Members) and Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices (Amendment) Act, 1992 Permanent Page URL View by SectionAmharc de réir Ailt View Full ActAmharc ar an Acht Iomlán Bill History Stair Bille Commencement, Amendments, SIs made under the Act Tosach Feidhme, Leasuithe, IRí arna ndéanamh faoin Acht Print Full ActPriontáil an tAcht Iomlán Number 3 of 1992 OIREACHTAS (ALLOWANCES TO MEMBERS) AND MINISTERIAL AND PARLIAMENTARY OFFICES (AMENDMENT) ACT, 1992 ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS Section

Section 1

Definitions.

Section 2

Salary for members of Oireachtas.

Section 3

Allowances for expenses for members of Oireachtas.

Section 4

Allowance payable under section 3 to be exempt from income tax.

Section 5

Termination allowances for former members of Oireachtas.

Section 6

Amendment of section 13 of Principal Act.

Section 7

Ministerial pensions and secretarial pensions.

Section 8

Pensions for widowers of deceased office holders.

Section 9

Restrictions of sections 13A and 13B of Principal Act.

Section 10

Amendment of Principal Act (new Part).

Section 11

Amendment of Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) Act, 1962.

Section 12

Amendment of section 4 of Act of 1938.

Section 13

Clarification of section 19 (3) of Principal Act.

Section 14

Amendment of section 4 of European Assembly (Irish Representatives) Act, 1979 .

Section 15

Repeal.

Section 16

Short title and collective citation.

Acts Referred to European Assembly (Irish Representatives) Act, 1979 1979, No. 19 Income Tax Act, 1967 1967, No. 6 Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices Act, 1938 1938, No. 38 Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices (Amendment) Act, 1952 1952, No. 19 Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) (No. 2) Act, 1977 1977, No. 28 Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) Act, 1938 1938, No. 34 Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) and Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices (Amendment) Act, 1960 1960, No. 12 Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) Act, 1962 1962, No. 32 Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) and Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices (Amendment) Act, 1964 1964, No. 14 Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) and Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices (Amendment) Act, 1968 1968, No. 22 Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) and Ministerial, Parliamentary and Judicial Offices (Amendment) Act, 1977 1977, No. 29 Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) and Ministerial, Parliamentary and Judicial Offices (Amendment) Act, 1983 1983, No. 32 Number 3 of 1992 OIREACHTAS (ALLOWANCES TO MEMBERS) AND MINISTERIAL AND PARLIAMENTARY OFFICES (AMENDMENT) ACT, 1992 AN ACT TO AMEND AND EXTEND THE OIREACHTAS (ALLOWANCES TO MEMBERS) ACTS, 1938 TO 1983, THE MINISTERIAL AND PARLIAMENTARY OFFICES ACTS, 1938 TO 1983 AND

SECTION 4

OF THE EUROPEAN ASSEMBLY (IRISH REPRESENTATIVES) ACT, 1979 . [18th March, 1992] BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:

Definitions.

1.—In this Act— “the Act of 1938” means the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) Act, 1938 ; “the Act of 1952” means the Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices (Amendment) Act, 1952 ; “the Act of 1977” means the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) and Ministerial, Parliamentary and Judicial Offices (Amendment) Act, 1977 ; “the Houses of the Oireachtas (Members) Pensions Scheme” means the Houses of the Oireachtas (Members) Pensions Scheme which was made under section 6A of the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) Act, 1938 (inserted by section 5 of the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) and Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices (Amendment) Act, 1960 ), and came into operation on the 1st day of December, 1960, as amended by the Houses of the Oireachtas (Members) Pensions (Amendment) Scheme, 1986 ( S.I. No. 431 of 1986 ), the Houses of the Oireachtas (Members) Pensions (Amendment) (No. 2) Scheme, 1986 ( S.I. No. 432 of 1986 ) and the Houses of the Oireachtas (Members) Pensions (Amendment) Scheme, 1988 ( S.I. No. 223 of 1988 ); “Minister of State” means a person appointed under section 1 of the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) (No. 2) Act, 1977 , to be a Minister of State at a Department of State; “the Principal Act” means the Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices Act, 1938 .

Salary for members of Oireachtas.

2.—The allowance payable to each member of the Oireachtas under section 2 of the Act of 1938 shall be designated as an annual sum by way of salary and references to the said allowance in that Act or any other Act of the Oireachtas or in any instrument made under any Act of the Oireachtas shall be construed accordingly.

Allowances for expenses for members of Oireachtas.

3.—(1) There shall be paid to each member of the Oireachtas out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas an annual sum (referred to subsequently in this section as “an allowance”) in full settlement of expenses— (a) which are not otherwise reimbursed, directly or indirectly, out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, and (b) which the member is obliged to incur— (i) in the performance of his duties as a member of the Oireachtas, and (ii) in case the member is also the holder of an office referred to in Part II of the Principal Act, in the performance of the duties of that office.

Allowance payable under section 3 to be exempt from income tax.

4.—(1) An allowance payable under section 3 of this Act shall be exempt from income tax and shall not be reckoned in computing income for the purposes of the Income Tax Acts.

Provided that where a Minister of the Government, the Attorney General or a Minister of State, being— (a) a member of Dáil Éireann for a constituency which is outside the county borough and the administrative county of Dublin, or (b) a member of Seanad Éireann whose main residence is situated outside the said county borough and administrative county, is, arising out of the performance of his duties as an office holder or as a member of the Oireachtas, obliged to maintain a second residence, in addition to his main residence, he shall be granted a deduction under the said rule 3 in respect of expenses incurred by him in maintaining that second residence.

Termination allowances for former members of Oireachtas.

5.—(1) A member of either House of the Oireachtas who ceases to be such a member may, on such cesser and subject to regulations made under this section, be granted an allowance, referred to subsequently in this section as “a termination allowance”, payable out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

Amendment of section 13 of Principal Act.

6.—Section 13 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion of the following definitions— “‘the operative date’ means the first day on which a Taoiseach is elected by Dáil Éireann following the general election for DáilÉireann which next occurs after the passing of the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) and Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices (Amendment) Act, 1992; ‘pre-qualified person’ means a person to whom section 13A of this Act (inserted by the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) and Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices (Amendment) Act, 1992) does not apply, and who, on or prior to the operative date, has completed not less than 3 years' service in a qualifying office or in a number of such offices.”.

Ministerial pensions and secretarial pensions.

7.—The Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after section 13 of the following sections: “Ministerial pensions and secretarial pensions.

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.

Provided that any fraction of a year in the result obtained under paragraph (a) or (b) of this subsection shall be disregarded.

Special pension arrangements for pre-qualified persons.

13B.—(1) This section applies to any person who is a pre-qualified person and who holds a qualifying office on or after the operative date.

Provided that— (I) any fraction of a year in either of the results aforesaid shall be disregarded, and (II) in any case where the aggregate of the number of relevant years as defined above and the number of years of pensionable service which were or would have been reckoned in the calculation of the original pension of the person concerned exceeds 10, the number of relevant years shall be taken to be the result obtained by subtracting from 10 the number of such years of pensionable service.

Pensions for widowers of deceased office holders.

8.—The provisions of the Act of 1952 and of section 20 of the Principal Act shall apply to widowers of deceased holders of qualifying offices (within the meaning of Part IV of the Principal Act) and the provisions of the said section 20 shall apply to the children of all such holders and, accordingly— (a) references in the Act of 1952 and in the said section 20 to a widow, a widow's pension and a mother, shall be construed as including references to a widower, a widower's pension and a father, respectively, (b) the reference in section 21 (4) of the Principal Act to widows' pensions shall be construed as including a reference to widowers' pensions, and (c) the reference in section 10

Restrictions of sections 13A and 13B of Principal Act.

9.—Where a widow's pension or a widower's pension is payable under section 20 of the Principal Act or under the Act of 1952 in respect of a deceased person who has held a qualifying office— (a) the amount of such pension shall be calculated as if paragraphs (b) and (f) of subsection (7) of section 13A of the Principal Act (inserted by section 7 of this Act) or, where appropriate, subsection (7) of section 13B (inserted by the said section 7 ) of the Principal Act did not apply in the case of the said deceased person, and (b) if the said deceased person held a qualifying office before the operative date as defined in section 13 of the Principal Act (amended by section 6 of this Act), the amount of such pension shall not in any case be less than the pension which would have been payable if— (i) the said deceased person had served for less than 1,095 days in a qualifying office other than a ministerial office (within the meaning of Part IV of the Principal Act), and (ii) the said section 13A did not apply in the case of the said deceased person.

Amendment of Principal Act (new Part).

10.—The Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after section 24 of the following Part: “PART V Severance payments to former holders of certain Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices Definitions for the purposes of Part V.

25.—In this Part ‘operative date’, ‘pre-qualified person’ and ‘qualifying office’ have the meanings assigned to them by Part IV of this Act.

Entitlement to severance allowance.

26.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this Part, a person who ceases to hold a qualifying office on or after the operative date and who is not immediately appointed to another such office shall, if he is not a pre-qualified person, be entitled to a payment referred to subsequently in this Part as ‘a severance allowance’.

Certain persons ineligible for severance allowance.

27.—A person who ceases to hold a qualifying office in order to take up a position to which he is appointed by the Government, or for which he is nominated by the Government for appointment, shall not be entitled to a severance allowance on foot of such cesser.

Commencement and cesser of severance allowance.

28.—Subject to section 30 of this Act, a person's entitlement to a severance allowance shall commence on the day following his cesser of office, and shall cease on the expiry of a period equal to the lesser of— (a) the period during which, immediately prior to such cesser, he has served in a qualifying office or offices without a break in such service, or (b) a period of 2 years, or, if earlier, on his appointment to a qualifying office or on his appointment to a position referred to in section 27 of this Act:

Provided that a person may at any time apply in writing to the Minister for Finance for the cesser of the severance allowance payable to him, and if he so applies, his entitlement to such allowance shall cease with effect from such date as is specified in the application.

Annual rate of severance allowance.

29.—(1) The annual rate of a severance allowance shall be— (a) if the period during which the allowance is payable is not more than 6 months in duration, 75 per cent. of the relevant salary, (b) if the period during which the allowance is payable is more than 6 months and not more than 18 months in duration, 75 per cent. of the relevant salary for the first 6 months and 50 per cent. of the relevant salary for the remainder of that period, or (c) if the period during which the allowance is payable is more than 18 months in duration, 75 per cent. of the relevant salary for the first 6 months and 50 per cent. of the relevant salary for the next 12 months and 25 per cent. of the relevant salary for the remainder of that period.

Provided that, where a person has held the office of Attorney General at any time during the relevant period, the relevant salary in the case of such person shall be calculated as if the salary for the time being appropriate to the office of Attorney General was the annual sum payable for the time being by way of salary to a member of the Government other than the Taoiseach or the Tánaiste.

Recalculation or resumption of severance allowance in certain circumstances.

30.—(1) Where a person is entitled to a severance allowance in respect of a period of service in a qualifying office (referred to subsequently in this section as ‘the first term’), and that entitlement ceases on his appointment to a qualifying office for a further period (referred to subsequently in this section as ‘the second term’), he may, on the expiry of the second term, apply in writing to the Minister for Finance that his entitlement to a severance allowance in respect of the second term should be calculated as if the first and second terms had constituted an unbroken period of service, and if he so applies, his entitlement shall be so calculated, subject to an appropriate reduction in that entitlement, which reduction shall be prescribed by regulations made by the Minister for Finance, having regard to the amount of the severance allowance paid to him in respect of the first term.

Special allowance for former Taoisigh.

31.—(1) Where a person who has held the office of Taoiseach for a period of not less than 1 year is entitled to a severance allowance under this Part and his entitlement to such allowance ceases otherwise than on his appointment to a qualifying office, and (a) he has not then attained the age of 55 years, and (b) he has not applied for a discounted pension,such person shall thereupon become entitled to an allowance (referred to subsequently in this Part as ‘a special allowance’) at the rate of 25 per cent. of the annual sum payable for the time being by way of salary to the Taoiseach.

Payment of allowances under Part V out of Central Fund.

32.—Every allowance payable under this Part of this Act shall be granted by the Minister for Finance and shall be charged upon and payable out of the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof.”.

Amendment of Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) Act, 1962 .

11.—(1) The Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) Act, 1962 , is hereby amended by the substitution for section 2 of the following section: “Telephone and postal facilities.

2.—(1) The following facilities shall, subject to such exceptions, restrictions and conditions as may be provided for by regulations, be granted to a member of Dáil Éireann or Seanad Éireann: (a) free telephone calls from Leinster House, and (b) free postal facilities arising out of the member's parliamentary duties.

Amendment of section 4 of Act of 1938.

12.—(1) Section 4 of the Act of 1938, as amended by the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) and Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices (Amendment) Act, 1964 , is hereby amended by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (2): “(2A) Notwithstanding anything contained in subsections (1) and (2) of this section, where on or after the 24th day of August, 1990, a member of either House is required, in connection with his parliamentary duties, to make a journey to Dublin from a place outside the State, in circumstances in which the Minister is satisfied that the necessity to make the journey in question could not reasonably have been foreseen by the member concerned, and the member thereby incurs travel expenses which are not recoupable from any other source, he may be granted travelling facilities in respect of that journey.”.

Clarification of section 19 (3) of Principal Act.

13.—(1) For the avoidance of doubt, it is hereby declared that the reference in subsection (3) of section 19 of the Principal Act to “a pension or allowance” shall not be construed as a reference to any payment under the Houses of the Oireachtas (Members) Pensions Scheme.

Amendment of section 4 of European Assembly (Irish Representatives) Act, 1979.

14.—(1)

Section 4

of the European Assembly (Irish Representatives) Act, 1979 , is hereby amended by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (4): “(5) In this section ‘pensions’ means pensions, gratuities and other allowances on death or on ceasing otherwise to hold office as a representative in the European Parliament.”.

Repeal.

15.—(1) Subsection (4) (inserted by section 6 (b) of the Act of 1977) of section 3 of the Principal Act is hereby repealed.

Short title and collective citation.

16.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) and Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices (Amendment) Act, 1992.

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