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5 1925

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1925

PART IV.

SUPERANNUATION, ETC.

Definitions.

42. —In this Part of this Act—

the expression “local body” means and includes every local authority except a committee of management of a district lunatic asylum;

the expression “pensionable officer” means any officer (other than a temporary officer) who either—

(a) devotes the whole of his time to the service of one or more local bodies, or

(b) is required by virtue of his office to be a registered medical practitioner, nurse, or midwife,

and the said expression also includes the following persons, that is to say:—

(i) any person who, as an officer, has devoted the whole of his time to the service of one or more committees or joint committees, appointed for the purpose of the Agriculture and Technical Instruction (Ireland) Act, 1899, for a continuous period of not less than ten years upon terms which do not expressly preclude him from receiving a pension and notwithstanding that his appointment was or is renewable periodically: Provided that for the purposes of this paragraph the period of service of such a person shall be deemed to be continuous, notwithstanding that at any time between the 1st day of January, 1919, and the 6th day of December, 1921, such service was interrupted for a period of not more than six months owing to the committee or joint committee in whose service such person then was having ceased to administer the said Agriculture and Technical Instruction (Ireland) Act, 1899, and

(ii) any person duly appointed standing solicitor of a local body before the passing of the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1919, and

(iii) any person permanently appointed before the passing of this Act to be a compounder of medicine for the purposes of any Act relating to the relief of the poor,

and the expression “pensionable office” shall be construed accordingly;

the expression “emoluments” includes all fees, poundage and other payments made to an officer as such for his own use, and also the money value of any apartments, rations or other allowances in kind appertaining to his office;

the expression “yearly salary and emoluments” means in relation to an officer who has served for not less than three years, the average amount of his salary and emoluments during the three years ending on the quarter day which immediately precedes the day on which he ceases to hold his office, and in relation to an officer who has served for less than three years, the average amount of his salary and emoluments during each completed year of his service.

Rights of existing officers.

43. —(1) If any officer of a local body who is in office at the date of the passing of this Act and at that date has more than ten years service as an officer of such local body signifies in writing within four months after the passing of this Act to such local body or if that body has been abolished then to a local body to which its powers and duties have been transferred his intention not to avail himself of all the provisions of this Part of this Act, this Part of this Act with the exception of sections 43 , 46 , 49 , 50 , 53 , 54 , 55 and 56 shall not apply to such officer.

(2) Any officer of a local body to whom by virtue of this section this Part of this Act does not wholly apply shall remain and be subject to such of the enactments repealed by this Act as relate to the granting of superannuation or compensation for loss of office to officers of local bodies as if this Act with the exception of the sections specified in sub-section (1) of this section had not been passed, save that in the application of section 8 of the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1919, to the granting of an allowance to such officer by a local body the expression “case of dispute” in that section shall include a dispute of the right to or amount of an allowance granted after the passing of this Act raised by an auditor of the Minister duly appointed to audit the accounts of such local body, which dispute such auditor is hereby authorised to raise on the occasion of the audit of the accounts for the period in which the allowance is first paid but not afterwards.

Compensation to be granted for loss of office.

44. —(1) A local body shall with the consent of the Minister grant to a pensionable officer in their employment, who either—

(a) has attained the age of sixty-five years and has at least twenty-five years' service, or

(b) becomes incapable of discharging the duties of his office with efficiency by reason of permanent infirmity of mind or body, or of old age, and has not less than ten years' service,

upon his resigning or otherwise ceasing to hold his office an annual allowance for his life not greater than two-thirds of his yearly salary and emoluments.

(2) A local body shall, with the consent of the Minister, grant to a pensionable officer in their employment who has at least ten years' service, and

(a) who is removed from his office for a cause other than misconduct or incapacity, or

(b) whose office is abolished, or

(c) whose position has, in the opinion of the Minister, been materially altered to his detriment owing to changes in the conditions of his employment made without reasonable cause, and who resigns his office with the consent of the Minister,

an annual allowance for his life not greater than two-thirds of his yearly salary and emoluments.

(3) A local body shall, with the consent of the Minister, grant to a pensionable officer in their employment, whose service is less than ten years and who ceases to hold his office in such circumstances that if his service were not less than ten years an allowance could have been granted to him under the foregoing sub-section, a gratuity not greater than one-sixth of his yearly salary and emoluments for each completed year of his service.

(4) Where a female pensionable officer in the employment of a local body elects or is compelled by the terms of her appointment to retire on account of her marriage or intended marriage, such local body may with the consent of the Minister, grant to such officer on her retirement or, where her retirement takes place before her marriage, upon her marriage a gratuity not greater than either a sum calculated at the rate of one-twelfth of her yearly salary and emoluments for each completed year of her service or than a sum equal to her yearly salary and emoluments whichever of these sums is the lesser.

(5) Subject as hereinafter provided, in ascertaining for the purposes of this Part of this Act, the service of an officer at the date when he ceases to hold his office, the whole of the period during which on such date such officer has held a pensionable office or offices continuously under any local body or bodies shall be reckoned:

Provided that—

(a) no period of service shall be reckoned in respect of which the officer has received an allowance or gratuity under this or any other enactment, and

(b) in the case of an officer of a committee or joint committee appointed for the purposes of the Agriculture and Technical Instruction (Ireland) Act, 1899, who has become pensionable by reason of his having devoted the whole of his time to the service of one or more such committees or joint committees for a continuous period of not less than ten years, his service shall be deemed to have commenced at the beginning of such continuous period.

(6) If an officer of a local body is aggrieved by the neglect or refusal of the local body to grant him an allowance or gratuity under this section, or with the amount of any allowance or gratuity granted him by the local body, he may within six months of his ceasing to hold his office appeal to the Minister who may thereupon grant to such officer any allowance or gratuity which in his opinion should have been granted to such officer by the local body under this section and such officer shall thereupon be entitled to receive such allowance or gratuity from the local body.

(7) The provision of a gratuity by a local body under this section shall be a purpose for which such local body may borrow in accordance with the enactments relating to borrowing by such local body.

Existing” officers within the meaning of the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898.

45. —(1) A local body may grant to any person who was an existing officer within the meaning of the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898, and ceased to hold office under such local body after the 6th day of December, 1921, and before the passing of this Act and to whom no compensation or superannuation has been granted by such local body in respect of such cesser, the same compensation or superannuation as might have been granted to such person if such cesser had taken place after the passing of this Act.

(2) This Part of this Act shall apply to the granting of compensation or superannuation to any person under this section and to such compensation or superannuation when granted.

Bonus on cost of living.

46. —(1) Where the yearly salary and emoluments of an officer of a local body include a temporary increase or addition (in this section called a “bonus”) which was expressed at the time of granting to be granted to meet the increased cost of living, calculated according to the amount of the remainder of his salary and emoluments and variable from time to time in accordance with the average cost of living in Saorstát Eireann, such bonus shall not be taken into account in fixing the amount of any allowance granted to such officer.

(2) Where in a case to which the foregoing sub-section applies an allowance is granted to the officer there shall be added to such allowance an increase or addition calculated on the amount of the allowance and variable in the like manner in all respects as the bonus payable to such officer immediately before he ceased to hold office was then variable.

Contributions by local bodies under which an officer has held office other than the local body granting compensation.

47. —Whenever an allowance or gratuity is payable by a local body (in this section called “the paying body”) to any person under this Act in respect of his ceasing to hold office under them, and in ascertaining the service of such officer at the date of such cesser any service under another local body (in this section called “the contributing body”) has been aggregated and reckoned, the contributing body shall refund to the paying body a part of such allowance or gratuity reckoned according to the service and pay of such officer under the contributing body and to the circumstances under which he has ceased to hold office under the paying body, and such part shall be settled by agreement between the two bodies, or in default of agreement by the Minister.

Offices not under a local authority, which may be held by pensionable officers.

48. —The holding by an officer of a local body of the office of Clerk to an Old Age Pensions Committee or a National Insurance Committee, or any office under a School Attendance Committee under the Irish Education Act, 1892, or the office of Superintendent Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages or the office of Registrar of Marriages, shall not be deemed, for the purpose of this Part of this Act, to deprive him of the status of a pensionable officer, but the salary or emoluments of such office shall not be taken into account in ascertaining the compensation which may be granted to such officer under this Part of this Act.

Employment of pensioners of local bodies by other local bodies.

49. —(1) Whenever a person who is in receipt of an allowance from a local body under this or any other Act on account of his having, whether before or after the passing of this Act, ceased to hold an office (in this section referred to as “the former office”) under a local body, or under a committee of a county infirmary or fever hospital, is or has been appointed to any office or employment (in this section referred to as “the later office”) by any local body, then—

(a) if the annual amount of the profits of the later office are equal to or greater than the yearly salary and emoluments of the former office, the allowance aforesaid shall cease to be paid so long as such person continues to hold the later office, and

(b) if the annual amount of the profits of the later office are less than the yearly salary and emoluments of the former office, no more of the allowance aforesaid shall be paid to such person while he continues to hold the later office than, with the annual amount of the profits of the later office, will be equal to the salary and emoluments of the former office.

(2) Where an allowance is reduced under this section, the amount (if any) contributed thereto by any local body other than the local body by which the allowance was granted shall be reduced in the same proportion as the total allowance is reduced.

Payment of allowances and gratuities.

50. —(1) The amount of any allowance or gratuity granted to an officer of a committee of a county council, an urban district council, or a borough council, or to an officer of a joint committee of any two or more of such councils under this Part of this Act, shall be paid to such officer by such council or councils, and in the case of an officer of a joint committee in such proportions as may be agreed upon or, in default of agreement, as may be determined by the Minister.

(2) Any sum payable under this Part of this Act by a local body in respect of an allowance or gratuity granted to a person who was previously an officer or employee of that local body or of a committee thereof or of a joint committee of that and any other local body shall (subject to the provisions of sub-section (3) of section 82 of this Act) be raised by means of the same rate and be paid out of the same fund and be charged on the same area as the salary or wages of such person would have been raised by means of and paid out of and charged upon if he had continued to hold the same office or employment under the said local body, committee or joint committee as the case may be, and such sum shall not be reckoned for the purpose of any enactment limiting the amount of such rate.

Officers of local bodies appointed to civil service.

51. —(1) This Part of this Act shall apply to any officer of a local body with not less than ten years' service who is or was after the 6th day of December, 1922, appointed to a permanent situation in the Civil Service of the Government of Saorstát Eireann, the duties of which relate to the same matters as the duties of his office under such local body, and who thereupon resigns or resigned such office, as if such officer had resigned such office after attaining the age of sixty-five years and having at least twenty years' service; but any allowance granted to such an officer by virtue of this section shall not be paid unless and until such officer is removed from the said Civil Service for a cause other than misconduct or incapacity or resigns from the said Civil Service with the consent of the Minister for Finance.

(2) The powers of a local body to grant an allowance by virtue of this section to an officer who resigned his office before the passing of this Act may be exercised at any time not more than three months from the passing of this Act.

Prohibition of alienation of pensions.

52. —(1) Every assignment of and every charge on and every agreement to assign or charge an allowance under this Part of this Act shall be void.

(2) No allowance granted under this Part of this Act shall be capable of being taken in execution or otherwise alienated by process of law for the payment of any debts or liabilities of the person to whom such allowance was granted.

Superannuation of employees.

53. —Whenever, under the provisions of any public or local Act, a local body is empowered to grant to any of its employees, other than officers, an allowance in respect of the loss of his employment, section 42 , sub-sections (1) and (2) of section 44 , sections 46 , 49 , 50 and 52 of this Act shall be substituted for such provisions, and shall apply to the granting of such allowances, and to such allowances when granted with the following modifications, that is to say:—

(a) in such application the words “office” and “officer” shall include “employment” and “employee” respectively, and the word “salary” shall include “wages;

(b) in calculating an employee's service only the continuous service of such employee under such local body at the date of the loss of such employment shall be reckoned;

(c) no allowance shall be granted to an employee under this section whose service is less than the period of service required by such public or local Act as a condition of his being granted an allowance thereunder.

Consent of Minister required to grant of allowances to certain asylum employees.

54. —No superannuation allowance shall be granted without the consent of the Minister to any officer or servant employed in a district or auxiliary asylum who, under the provisions of section twenty of the Asylum Officers Superannuation Act, 1909, signified his intention not to avail himself of the provisions of that Act.

Officers of abolished committees of county infirmaries and county fever hospitals.

55. —Every person who at the date of the abolition of a committee of a county infirmary or a county fever hospital (whether before or after the passing of this Act) under or in pursuance of section 7 of the Local Government (Temporary Provisions) Act, 1923 , was or shall have been an officer of that committee, and, except in the case of a medical officer, devoted the whole of his time to the service of the committee, if his period of service under such committee was, or shall have been, not less than ten years, shall have the same rights to receive an allowance from the county or county borough council or councils to which or to a committee of which the functions of the committee aforesaid have been transferred on its abolition as he would have under this Act if he were a pensionable officer of a committee or joint committee of the said council or councils and had held office thereunder for a period equal to his period of service under the committee aforesaid, and had been removed from such office for a cause other than misconduct or incapacity.

Compensation for loss of emoluments on transfer of duties.

56. —(1) Whenever an officer of a board of guardians which has before the passing of this Act been abolished under the provisions of the Local Government (Temporary Provisions) Act, 1923 , has continued after such abolition to perform duties previously performed by him by virtue of his office under such board, and in the opinion of the Minister the emoluments received by such officer for the performance of such duties were not taken into account in determining the amount of compensation payable to him in respect of the loss of his office under the said board, such officer shall upon his ceasing (whether before or after this Act) for any reason other than misconduct or incapacity to perform the duties aforesaid, be entitled to receive from the county council by which the compensation aforesaid was payable, and in addition thereto, such amount of compensation for the loss of the emoluments aforesaid as the Minister shall determine.

(2) Every existing clerk of a board of guardians which was not abolished under a county scheme before the passing of the Electoral Act, 1923 (No. 12 of 1923), who has ceased or shall hereafter cease by virtue of that Act to perform duties in respect of the registration of electors previously performed by him, and every existing clerk of a board of guardians which was not abolished under a county scheme before the passing of the Juries (Amendment) Act, 1924 (No. 18 of 1924), who has ceased or shall hereafter cease by virtue of that Act to perform duties in respect of the preparation or revision of lists of jurors previously performed by him, shall be entitled to receive from the board of guardians or from the body to whom the liabilities of such board have or shall have been transferred (as the case may require) such compensation as the Minister may determine for the loss of the emoluments previously received by him in respect of the several duties aforesaid or such of them as he has or shall have so ceased to perform.

In this sub-section the expression “existing clerk” means a clerk who was in office on the last day of March, 1898.

(3) The amount of the compensation payable to any person under this section shall not exceed—

(a) where the compensation is by way of annual allowance, an annual allowance equal to two-thirds of the net loss of emoluments, or

(b) where the compensation is by way of gratuity a sum not greater than one-sixth of his net loss of emoluments.

In this sub-section the expression “net loss of emoluments” means—

(i) where the duties the cesser of which gives rise to the right to compensation have or shall have been performed for three years or more, the average amount of the emoluments received in respect of the performance of those duties during each of the three years next preceding such cesser in which those duties have or shall have been actually performed, and

(ii) where such duties have or shall have been performed for less than three years, the average yearly amount of the emoluments received in respect of the performance of those duties during the period in which those duties have or shall have been performed.