I move:—
That the Dáil hereby approves of the Garda Síochána Pensions Order, 1952, made on the 29th day of July, 1952, by the Minister for Justice, with the sanction of the Minister for Finance, under Section 13 of the Police Forces Amalgamation Act, 1925, and laid before the Dáil on the 1st October, 1952.
The Garda Síochána Pensions Order, 1952, which I am asking the House to approve, contains amendments of the 1951 Pensions Order and also a provision to enable the pensions of certain members who retired prior to 1st January, 1952, to be re-assessed. A memorandum, explaining the provisions of the Order, has been circulated to Deputies. The details are as follows:—
Article 4 (a) of the Order amends Article 9 of the 1951 Pensions Order. When the latter Order was framed provision was made under Article 8 (b) for the payment of extra gratuities, calculated at the rate of 1/2 of 1 per cent. of annual pay for each year of service prior to 29th December, 1951, to members of the force who retire and receive ordinary pensions. Provision was not made for the payment of this extra gratuity to members of the force who might be awarded special pensions on retirement by reason of injuries sustained in the course of their duty. Provision is now being made for the payment of the extra gratuity to such members.
Article 4 (b) of the Order amends Article 13 of the 1951 Pensions Order. The latter Order provided that, if a member of the force to whom a retirement gratuity had been paid served again, the amount of any retirement gratuity to which he later became entitled would be reduced by the amount of the gratuity previously paid to him. No provision was, however, made in the case of a member who might die during his second period of service for the deduction of the gratuity previously paid from any death gratuity to which the deceased member's legal personal representatives might become entitled. This is now being done and is necessary to prevent the payment of a gratuity twice in respect of the same period of service in the force.
Article 5. The Garda Síochána Pensions Act, 1947, permitted members of the force who retired from the force and who were allowed to rejoin to count the period they were absent from the force as approved service for pension purposes, provided that a certificate was issued under Section 8 of the Act that their retirement had been due solely to political reasons. They were not, however, permitted to receive increments of pay in respect of the periods they were absent. Provision is now being made to re-assess the pensions of any such members who may have retired before the 1st January, 1952, as though their annual pay, on retirement, had included increments of pay in respect of the periods they were absent from the force.
The general effect of the Order is to make improvements in the Garda Síochána Pensions code and no further comments are, I think, necessary.
