PARLIAMENTARY PENSIONS (AMENDMENT) BILL

Order for Second Reading read. 3.44 p.m.

The Minister for Law and the Environment (Mr E.W. Barker) (for the Minister for Finance): Mr Speaker, Sir, the Minister in charge has asked me to move this Bill on his behalf.

Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

Under the existing provisions of the Parliamentary Pensions Act, the quantum of death gratuity payable to the dependants of a deceased Member of Parliament is fixed at a year's emoluments. In the corresponding sections or provisions of the Pensions Act for the civil service, the death gratuity payable to the dependants of a civil servant who dies "in harness" is equivalent to one year's emoluments or salary or, alternatively, to a commuted pension gratuity, whichever is the greater. For the purposes of determining such commuted pension gratuity, the officer is deemed to have retired on medical grounds at the time of his death.

The purpose of the Bill is to amend the Parliamentary Pensions Act so that the death gratuity provisions will include the alternative of a commuted pension gratuity as in the more generous provisions for the civil service.

Under the Parliamentary Pensions Act, a Member of Parliament has to satisfy two conditions in order to qualify for a pension and hence for a commuted gratuity, namely:-

(a) he must have had at least 9 years reckonable service;

(b) he must have attained the age of 45 years.

The amending Bill will enable the payment of a commuted pension gratuity based on the years of reckonable service completed (where such gratuity exceeds one year's emoluments) even if a Member of Parliament dies before fulfilling the two conditions to qualify for a Parliamentary pension.

Members will be interested to know that the commuted pension gratuity will exceed one year's salary or emoluments only if the Member has completed more than 7.2 years of reckonable service. In the case of a civil servant, the dependants will get a bigger gratuity by way of the commuted pension gratuity only if the deceased civil servant had more than 16 years' service.

Sir, I beg to move.

Question put, and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House.

The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. - [Mr E.W. Barker].

Bill considered in Committee: reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed.