Ill Health Retirement (IHR), where approved, allows public servants to retire prior to their minimum pension age and receive immediate payment of their pension benefits without actuarial reduction and, subject to eligibility criteria, an award of notional added years.
A decision to grant Ill Health Retirement rests with the relevant employer, and is subject to an approval process which includes an appropriate medical assessment having been carried out by the relevant medical professional. Further details are set out in Circular 22/2007.
The information on this page relates to IHR arrangements in pre-existing public service pension schemes. For information on the IHR arrangements under the Single Scheme, please see https://singlepensionscheme.gov.ie/.
Under the pre-existing civil service pension scheme, an individual who has been approved to retire on ill health grounds may do so provided they have at least 5 years’ actual service. In such cases, the individual may receive immediate payment of their pension benefits on retirement and those benefits may include an award of notional added years.
Notional added years may apply as follows:
a) individuals with between 5 and 10 years actual reckonable service may be credited with a period of notional service equal to the amount of their actual reckonable service, subject to that service not exceeding the additional reckonable service which would have accrued if they had remained in service up to age 65;
b) individuals with between 10 and 20 years actual reckonable service may be granted the more favourable of:
- The difference between their actual reckonable service and 20 years, subject to that service not exceeding the additional reckonable service which would have accrued if they had remained in service up to age 65, or
- A period of 6 years and 243 days, subject to that service not exceeding the additional service which would have accrued if they had remained in service until reaching their minimum retirement age.
c) individuals with more than 20 years’ actual reckonable service may be credited with a period of 6 years and 243 days, subject to that service not exceeding the additional service which would have accrued if they had remained in service until reaching their minimum retirement age).
In the case of members of the Prison Service, age 60 should be substituted for age 65 above.
Where an individual retires on grounds of ill health but does not have the 5 years of actual reckonable service required to qualify for Ill Health Retirement benefits, they may be eligible to receive a short service gratuity. A short service gratuity is payable to a civil servant who retires on grounds of permanent incapacity and who has at least 1 year of actual reckonable service but less than 5.
The amount of the gratuity payable is:
(a) 1/12th of pensionable remuneration for each year of actual reckonable service; plus
(b) 3/80ths of pensionable remuneration per year of actual reckonable service, provided the officer has at least 2 years' actual reckonable service.
In this calculation, part years reckon on a pro rata basis.
Civil servants who retire on ill health grounds who have at least 2 years’ service may opt for preserved benefits in lieu of the short service gratuity.
An individual who has been approved to retire on ill health grounds and who works in a part time capacity, may be eligible for immediate payment of retirement benefits provided they have at least 5 calendar years’ service. Prior to 1 August 2012, a part-time employee was required to have had 5 years’ full-time equivalent service in order to be eligible for immediate payment of pension benefits under IHR.
The eligibility, calculation and award of notional added years, where applicable, will apply on the same basis as for a comparable full-time employee, with the amount of notional added years linked to the individual’s actual reckonable service. This means that a part-time employee must have worked 5 years’ full-time equivalent reckonable service to qualify for award of notional added years.
When determining service that would have accrued had the person served to retirement age, the calculation should be based on their working pattern at retirement unless the person’s contract requires them to work fluctuating hours, or their normal working hours were reduced in the last three years of pensionable service. In such cases a working/attendance pattern based on the average annual number of hours worked in the last 3 years of pensionable service should be used, if this is more favourable than using the work pattern at retirement.
Temporary Rehabilitation Remuneration (TRR) is a form of sick leave payment which may be payable subject to certain criteria. TRR is paid at the same rate as the rate at which an ill health retirement pension would be paid if the person were to be granted such a pension.
In the event that a person avails of ill health retirement, having previously been in receipt of a TRR payment, the period of service used in the calculation of their IHR benefits may not be less than the period of service previously used for a TRR calculation.
Guidance note: Employment in the Civil Service post-Ill Health Retirement
Circular 43/1974 ‘Sick pay at pension rate’.
Circular 22/2007 ‘Ill health retirement from the civil service’
Circular 11/2012 ‘Public Service Pension Reform: Revised ill health and death in service arrangements for part-time public servants’
