Section 2 of the Parliamentary Pensions Act, 2007 in this Act referred to as "the principal Act" is amended by-
(a)
inserting immediately before the interpretation of the word "Board" the following- "actuary" means an actuary qualified as such and appointed by the Board;
"AGM" means the Annual General Meeting of the members of the scheme including a former member receiving a pension under the scheme or with deferred benefits in the scheme;
"beneficiary or nominee" means a person designated by a member to benefit under the scheme."
(b)
inserting immediately after the interpretation of the word "Board" the following- "custodian" means an institution appointed by the Board for the purposes of holding safe custody of the funds, securities, financial instruments and documents of title of the scheme in accordance with such terms and conditions of service as may be specified in the instrument of appointment;
"dependant" means a son or daughter under the age of 18 years, or a son or daughter above the age of 18 years or any other person who is wholly or substantially dependent on the member;
"defined benefits scheme" means a retirement benefits scheme in which a sponsor undertakes to provide benefits expressed in the form of annuity or lump sum calculation based on work history and guaranteed return on contribution account regardless of the investment performance of the fund associated with the scheme and accordingly constitutes a contingent liability for the sponsor;
"disability" means a substantial functional limitation of daily life activities caused by physical, mental or sensory impairment and environment barriers resulting in limited participation;
"fund manager" means a person appointed by the trustees to advice on the investment of the assets of the scheme in accordance with such terms and conditions of service as may be specified in the instrument of appointment;
"hybrid cash balance scheme" means a defined benefits scheme which includes elements of money purchase pension design scheme."
(c)
substituting for the interpretation of the word "member" the "member" means a Member of Parliament and a member of staff of the Parliamentary Commission on permanent and pensionable terms contributing to the Fund;
"money purchase pension design scheme" means a scheme that provides benefits based upon the amount of money that is in a member account when benefits are due to be paid."
(d)
inserting immediately after the interpretation of the word "pensionable emolument" the following- "reserve account" means a reserve account established under section
20B
."
(e)
inserting immediately after the interpretation of the word "scheme" the following- "scheme credit" means the total contributions by and in respect of a member and interest accruing on it;
"spouse" means a husband or wife by a lawful marriage."
Section
4
of the principal Act is amended by substituting for subsection (2) the following-
"(2) The scheme shall be a hybrid cash balance scheme under which members and the Government shall make contributions to the Fund in accordance with section
6
."
Section
5
of the principal Act is amended by substituting for it the "5. Membership of the scheme. (1) Membership of the scheme shall consist of Members of Parliament, whether elected or ex-officio, and members of staff, on permanent and pensionable terms, of the Parliamentary Commission except that any member who is also a Vice President or a Prime Minister or becomes Speaker or Deputy Speaker shall not be a member of the scheme. (2) A member who is subsequently appointed as Vice President or Prime Minister or elected Speaker or Deputy Speaker shall withdraw from the scheme and his or her benefits may be deferred under section
12A
. (3) All Members of the 7th Parliament and staff of the Parliamentary Commission shall, on the date of commencement of this Act, be deemed to have joined the scheme. (4) For the purposes of this Act, a person who ceases to be a member in consequence of the dissolution of Parliament, or in consequence of a court order relating to any election petition, shall be deemed to continue to be a member until such time as he or she fails to be re-elected to Parliament. (5) The benefits of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker shall be provided for under Part IVA of this Act."
Section
6
of the principal Act is amended by substituting for subsection (5) the following-
"(5) The board shall maintain a member account for each member to which all contributions made by and in respect of each member under this Act shall be credited, and from which there shall be paid individual benefits in respect of each member."
Section
7
of the principal Act is amended by-
(a)
renumbering section
7
as section
7(1)
; and
(b)
inserting immediately after subsection (1) the following- "(2) Subsection (1) shall not apply to an order of court for the payment of periodical sums of money towards the maintenance of the spouse or former spouse or child, of the member to whom the pension, gratuity or other benefit has been granted."
"7A. Pension not subject to attachment on bankruptcy.
Where a person in receipt of a pension under this Act is adjudicated insolvent by a competent court, the person shall continue to receive the pension and the pension shall not be subject to attachment under the insolvency laws."
"7B Restriction on use of scheme funds. (1) The funds of the scheme shall not- (a) be used for speculative investment;
(b)
be lent to any person, except through securities sold on the open market; or (c) be invested with a bank, non-banking financial institution, insurance company, building society or other institution with a view to securing loans or mortgages, at a preferential rate of interest or for other consideration to the trustee, custodian, administrator or fund manager of the retirement benefits scheme.
(2)
Notwithstanding section
7
and section
7B
(1), a prescribed proportion of the benefits accruing to a member under this scheme may be assigned and used by the member to secure a mortgage or a loan for purchasing a residential house from any institution and on such terms as may be prescribed in the regulations made under this Act."
Section
9
of the principal Act is amended-
(a)
in paragraph (a) by inserting immediately after the word "contributions" the words " by and in respect" ;
(b)
in paragraph (c) by deleting the word "members" and inserting immediately after the word "contributions" the words "by and in respect of members."
Section
10
of the principal Act is amended by inserting immediately after subsection (3) the following-
"(4) The contributions by and in respect of each member under section
6
shall be paid to the Fund before the fifteenth day of the next following calendar month." 10 the following-
"10A. Payments from the Fund.
The following payments shall be made from the Fund- (a) pension; (b) refund of contributions; and (c) expenses incurred in the management and administration of the Scheme."
Section
11
of the principal Act is amended in subsection (2) by substituting for the words "Speaker of Parliament" the words "Parliamentary Commission."
For section
12
of the principal Act there is substituted the following-
"12. Pension for former members. (1) Pension shall be paid to a member who retires or ceases to be a member on or after attaining forty-five years of age, subject to service as a member for a continuous period of five years or more. (2) The pension payable to a former member shall be calculated basing on a formula provided in Schedule 1 to this Act.
(3)
The board may by Statutory Instrument in consultation with the Parliamentary commission amend the schedule after an actuarial review (4) The pension payable to a former member on his or her retirement shall be of such amount as can be purchased by his or her scheme credit at the date of retirement by monthly payments.
(5)
Notwithstanding subsection (4), a member entitled to a pension shall have an option of receiving a commuted lump sum payment of not more than twenty five percent of his or her Scheme credit."
