asked the Minister for Finance whether, for the purposes of the Superannuation Acts, and in accordance with the definition clauses thereof, (a) a county registrar is an established civil servant, (b) the position occupied by a county registrar in the public service is deemed to be an established position, and (c) the service of a county registrar is established service.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - County Registrars.
4.
The answer to the first part of the Deputy's question is in the negative. As regards the remainder of the question, subsection (5) of Section 35 of the Court Officers Act, 1926, declared the office of county registrar to be a pensionable office within the Superannuation Acts for the time being in force and provided for the grant to a county registrar on retirement or to his legal personal representative on death such superannuation and other allowances or gratuities as might under the Superannuation Acts for the time being in force have been granted had such county registrar been appointed to the permanent Civil Service of Saorstát Éireann with a certificate from the Civil Service Commissioners.
This provision was repealed by subsection 6 of Section 4 of the Court Officers Act, 1945 which provided especially favourable superannuation terms for county registrars. However, county registrars who were appointed prior to the passing of the Court Officers Act, 1945, retained their entitlement to superannuation and other benefits under the Superannuation Acts unless and until they elected to adopt the new superannuation terms provided by Section 4 of the Court Officers Act, 1945, or these terms as amended subsequently by Section 57 of the Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act, 1961. Any serving county registrar who was serving at the passing of the Court Officers Act, 1945, and who has not opted for the special superannuation terms of that Act, or of the Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act, 1961, remains pensionable under the provisions of the Superannuation Acts and his office is a pensionable office for the purposes of those Acts.