Pensions (amendment) act, 1996

• Enactment Date: 02 July 1996
• Act Number: 18

Number 18 of 1996
PENSIONS (AMENDMENT) ACT, 1996
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
Section 1. Definition. 2. Amendment of section 2 of Principal Act. 3. Amendment of section 3 of Principal Act. 4. Amendment of section 5 of Principal Act. 5. Amendment of section 10 of Principal Act. 6. Amendment of section 18 of Principal Act. 7. Amendment of section 24 of Principal Act. 8. Amendment of section 26 of Principal Act. 9. Amendment of section 30 of Principal Act. 10. Amendment of section 32 of Principal Act. 11. Amendment of section 33 of Principal Act. 12. Amendment of section 34 of Principal Act. 13. Amendment of section 36 of Principal Act. 14. Amendment of section 37 of Principal Act. 15. Amendment of section 39 of Principal Act. 16. Amendment of section 42 of Principal Act. 17. Priorities on winding up of relevant scheme. 18. Amendment of section 49 of Principal Act. 19. Amendment of section 50 of Principal Act. 20. Amendment of section 54 of Principal Act. 21. Amendment of section 55 of Principal Act. 22. Amendment of section 56 of Principal Act. 23. Costs of trustee training. 24. Amendment of section 61 of Principal Act. 25. Rule against perpetuities. 26. Amendment of section 63 of Principal Act. 27. Suspension of trustees and offence. 28. Amendment of section 64 of Principal Act. 29. Amendment of section 65 of Principal Act. 30. Amendment of section 67 of Principal Act. 31. Amendment of section 71 of Principal Act. 32. Principle of equal treatment and collective agreements, etc. 33. Equal treatment: contract of employment. 34. Amendment of section 76 of Principal Act. 35. Powers of Court under section 77. 36. Amendment of section 79 of Principal Act. 37. Amendment of section 80 of Principal Act. 38. Compulsory and voluntary reporting to Board, etc. 39. Applications to High Court. 40. Amendment of First Schedule to Principal Act. 41. Amendment of Part B of Second Schedule to Principal Act. 42. Amendment of Third Schedule to Principal Act. 43. Increase of fines. 44. Continuing offences. 45. Saving of instruments. 46. Short title.
Number 18 of 1996
PENSIONS (AMENDMENT) ACT, 1996
AN ACT TO AMEND AND EXTEND THE PENSIONS ACT, 1990 . [2nd July, 1996]
BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:
	Definition.	1.—In this Act “the Principal Act” means the Pensions Act, 1990 .
	Amendment of section 2 of Principal Act.	2.—Section 2 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by—
	(a) the insertion after the definition of “auditor” of the following definition:
	“‘authorised person’ means a person authorised as an authorised person under section 18;”,
	(b) the substitution in the definition of “early retirement rule” (inserted by section 42 (b) of the Social Welfare Act, 1993 ) for paragraph (ii) of the following paragraph:
	“(ii) the calculation of the member's immediate retirement benefit involves or may involve an actuarial reduction which exceeds 0.25 per cent., or such other percentage as may be prescribed, multiplied by the number of completed months by which the member's age at retirement is less than a stated age;”,
	(c) the substitution in the definition of “normal pensionable age” (inserted by section 42 (d) of the Social Welfare Act, 1993 ) for paragraph (a) of the following paragraph:
	“(a) the earliest age at which a member of a scheme is entitled under the rules of the scheme (other than under any early retirement rule) to receive an immediate retirement benefit, or”, and
	(d) the substitution in the definition of “reckonable service” (inserted by section 42 (f) of the Social Welfare Act, 1993 ) for paragraph (a) of the following paragraph:
	“(a) the only benefit under the scheme in respect of such service is in respect of death prior to normal pensionable age, or”.
	Amendment of section 3 of Principal Act.	3.—Section 3 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by—
	(a) the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (c) of subsection (1):
	“(c) In a prosecution for an offence under paragraph (a), (b) or (bb) it shall be a defence for the accused person to prove that the contravention to which the offence relates was attributable to:
	(i) a contravention by one or more other persons of a provision of this Act or a regulation thereunder and that he took such reasonable steps (if any) in the circumstances as were open to him to secure the compliance of the person or persons aforesaid with the provision concerned, or
	(ii) a failure by an actuary, auditor or other person to prepare a document which the accused person had instructed the actuary, auditor or other person to prepare and that the accused person took such reasonable steps (if any) in the circumstances as were open to him to secure the preparation of the said document by the actuary, auditor or other person aforesaid.”,
	(b) the insertion after subsection (5) of the following subsection:
	“(6) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 10 (4) of the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851 , summary proceedings for an offence under this Act may be commenced—
	(a) at any time within 2 years from the date on which the offence was committed, or
	(b) at any time within 6 months from the date on which evidence sufficient in the opinion of the Board to justify initiating the proceedings, comes to the Board's knowledge, not being later than 5 years from the date on which the offence concerned was committed.”.
	Amendment of section 5 of Principal Act.	4.—Section 5 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (3):
	“(4) (a) The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Equality and Law Reform, make regulations specifying guidelines for the purposes of section 12 and the reference in subsection (1) of the said section 12 to any relevant guidelines for the time being in force under section 10 (1) (c) shall be construed as a reference to any relevant guidelines specified as aforesaid and for the time being in force.
	(b) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (a), guidelines specified by regulations under that paragraph may—
	(i) make provision in relation to the manner in which a contingent benefit, a designated benefit, a residual benefit or a transfer amount payable under a scheme, the actuarial value referred to in subsection (10) of section 12 or the value and the amounts referred to in subsection (25) of section 12 should be calculated and, in particular, but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, provide that, in making such a calculation, regard should be had to one or more of the following:
	(I) whether the scheme concerned is a defined contribution scheme or not,
	(II) the amount of retirement benefit payable (or which, but for the making of the relevant order for the decree of judicial separation, would have been payable) under the scheme concerned to or in respect of the member spouse concerned,
	(III) the period of reckonable service of the member spouse for the purposes of such retirement benefit,
	(IV) the period concerned and the percentage concerned specified in the order concerned under subsection (2) of section 12 pursuant to paragraphs (i) and (ii) respectively, of that subsection,
	(V) the value, the actuarial value or the accumulated value, as may be appropriate, of the whole or the appropriate part of such retirement benefit as aforesaid,
	(VI) whether, at the date of the making of the relevant order under subsection (2) of section 12, the member spouse was an active member of the scheme concerned or was being paid retirement benefit, or was entitled to any other benefit payment of which is deferred, under the scheme concerned,
	(VII) the amount of contingent benefit payable (or which, but for the making of the relevant order for the decree of judicial separation, would have been payable) under the scheme concerned on the death of the member spouse concerned,
	(VIII) the percentage concerned specified in the order concerned under subsection (3) of section 12,
	(ii) specify the manner in which a transfer amount should be applied under section 12,
	(iii) specify the manner and the circumstances in which a contingent benefit, a designated benefit, a residual benefit or a transfer amount should be paid or applied pursuant to section 12 (including the period, and the manner of its ascertainment, during which such a payment should be made) and, in particular, but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, where—
	(I) the member spouse concerned retires upon or before or after attaining normal pensionable age,
	(II) the member spouse dies before payment of the designated benefit has commenced,
	(III) the member spouse dies after payment of the designated benefit has commenced,
	(IV) the member spouse ceases to be an active member of the scheme concerned,
	(V) the person in whose favour the relevant order under subsection (2) of section 12 is made dies before payment of the designated benefit has commenced,
	(VI) the person in whose favour the order aforesaid is made dies after payment of the designated benefit has commenced,
	(VII) the person in whose favour the said order is made ceases to be a dependent member of the family as defined in section 2 of the Family Law Act, 1995 ,
	(VIII) in the circumstances specified in subsection (5) of section 12, a spouse makes an application under that subsection,
	(IX) the trustees of the scheme...