Article 19 (Government Service) of the Ireland-Portugal Double Taxation Convention follows the standard provisions of double tax conventions internationally concerning the allocation of taxing rights in relation to pensions on foot of central and local government employments. Paragraph 2 of that Article provides that a pension, paid to an individual in respect of services rendered to the State, is taxable only in Ireland - unless the individual is both a resident of, and a national of, Portugal.
The non-habitual resident tax exemption to which the Deputy’s question refers is an exemption provided by Portuguese law: It is not provided under Article 19 or any other provision of the Ireland-Portugal Double Taxation Convention. The terms and scope of, and any perceived anomaly regarding, the exemption are a matter for Portuguese law. Consequently, it is unclear how Revenue or I could have any role in that regard and I am advised by Revenue that it is not its practice to comment on the application of the provisions of the national law of other countries.