The Ombudsman (Northern Ireland) Order 1996

6.—(1) A person who elects under paragraph 3(b) for the 1993 scheme, shall be entitled, when he ceases to hold office as Ombudsman, to a pension under Part I of the 1993 Act at the appropriate annual rate (within the meaning of that Act) if he has held that office for at least 5 years and either—

(a) he has attained the age of 65; or

(b) he is disabled by permanent infirmity for the performance of the duties of the office.

(2) Subject to the following provisions of, and regulations made under, this Schedule, the provisions of Part I of the 1993 Act (other than sections 1(1) to (4) and 2) and of sections 19, 20 and 23 of, and Schedule 2 to, that Act (which provide for benefits in respect of earnings in excess of pension-capped salary, appeals and transfer of accrued rights) shall apply in relation to him and his service in the office of Ombudsman as they apply in relation to a person to whom Part I of that Act applies.

(3) Subject to regulations made under this Schedule, in the application of provisions of the 1993 Act by virtue of sub-paragraph (2) a person who elects for the 1993 scheme shall be treated—

(a) as if the office of Ombudsman were a qualifying judicial office (within the meaning of that Act) by virtue of inclusion among the offices specified in Part I of Schedule 1 to that Act;

(b) as if his election under this Schedule were an election such as is mentioned in paragraph (d) of section 1(1) of that Act (so that, in particular, section 12 of that Act, which provides for the transfer of accrued rights into the scheme, applies);

(c) as if his pension by virtue of this Schedule were a pension under section 2 of that Act (and, accordingly, a judicial pension, within the meaning of that Act); and

(d) for the purpose of determining, in the event of his death, the rate of any surviving spouse’s or children’s pension payable under sections 5 to 8 of that Act in respect of his service as Ombudsman, as if references in those sections to the annual rate of the deceased’s judicial pension were references—

(i) where a pension had commenced to be paid to him by virtue of sub-paragraph (1), to the appropriate annual rate of that pension; or

(ii) where no such pension had commenced to be paid to him, to the rate that would have been the appropriate annual rate of the pension payable to him by virtue of sub-paragraph (1)(b), had he not died, but been disabled by permanent infirmity for the performance of the duties of his office on and after the date of death.

(4) In the application of the 1993 Act to the Ombudsman (whether by virtue of paragraph 3(a) or (b)) the references to the appropriate Minister in sections 13 (election for personal 'pension), 19 (benefits in respect of earnings in excess of pension-capped salary) and 20 (appeals) of, and Schedule 2 (transfer of accrued rights) to, that Act shall be taken as references to the Minister for the Civil Service and the power conferred by paragraph 2 of that Schedule to make regulations shall be exercisable by the Minister for the Civil Service.