Paragraph 2 InterpretationI1

In this Scheme—

• “the 1984 Order” means the Fire Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1984^f1;

• “the 2006 Order” means the Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006^f2;

• F1“the 2015 Regulations” means the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015;

• “the 2015 Scheme” means the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme 2015 set out in the 2015 Regulations;

• F2“the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme” means the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme (Northern Ireland) as set out in the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme Order (Northern Ireland) 2007;

• “the New Firefighters Pension Scheme” means the New Firefighters’ Pension Scheme (Northern Ireland) as set out in the New Firefighters Pension Scheme Order (Northern Ireland) 2007;

• F3“active member of the 2015 Scheme” has the meaning given in regulation 28 (active membership) of the 2015 Regulations;

• “active member’s account” means the account established under regulation 40 (establishment of active member’s account) of the 2015 Regulations;

• “amount”, in relation to a pension or allowance, means its annual amount;

• “average pensionable pay” has the same meaning as in F4the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme;

• “award” means a pension, allowance or gratuity under this Scheme;

• “child”, in relation to a person who has died, means—

  1. (a)

     a legitimate or illegitimate child, step-child or adopted child of his, and

  2. (b)

     any other child who was substantially dependent on him and either is related to him or is the child of his spouse or civil partner;

  and “parent” shall be construed accordingly;

• “disabled”, “disablement” and “permanent disablement” shall be construed in accordance with rule 8 of this Part ;

• F5“eligible child’s pension” has the meaning given in regulation 92 (eligible child’s pension) of the 2015 Regulations;

• “final pay” has the meaning given in regulation 101 (meaning of “final pay”) of the 2015 Regulations;

• “the Board” means the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service Board;

• “F6independent qualified medical practitioner” means a medical practitioner holding a diploma in occupational medicine or an equivalent or higher qualification issued by a competent authority in an EEA State, or being an Associate, a Member or a Fellow of the Faculty of Occupational Medicine^f3 or an equivalent institution of an EEA State; and for the purposes of this definition “a competent authority” has the meaning given by F7section 55(1) of the Medical Act 1983;

• F8“final pensionable pay” shall be construed in accordance with article 62 of the New Firefighters’ Pension Scheme;

• “injury” includes disease;

• F9“member of the 2015 Scheme” has the same meaning as “member” in regulation 3 (interpretation) of the 2015 Regulations;

• “normal benefit age” has the meaning given by article 6(2) of the New Firefighters’ Pension Scheme;

• F10“normal pension age” in relation to employees of the Board appointed on terms under which they are or may be required to engage in firefighting—

  1. (a)

     in relation to the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme means 55;

  2. (b)

     in relation to the New Firefighters’ Pension Scheme means 60;

  3. (c)

     in relation to the 2015 Scheme means 55;

• “pension” means a pension under this Scheme;

• F11...

• F12“pensionable pay”—

  1. (a)

     in relation to a person who is a member of the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme shall be construed in accordance with article 56 of that Scheme;

  2. (b)

     in relation to a person who is a member of the New Firefighters’ Pension Scheme shall be construed in accordance with article 61 of that Scheme;

  3. (c)

     F13in relation to a person who is a member of the 2015 Scheme, shall be construed in accordance with regulation 26 (pensionable pay) of the 2015 Regulations;

  4. (d)

     in the case of a person who is not a member of any of these schemes, shall be construed in accordance with rule 11 of this Part;

• ...

• “pensionable retained service”, in relation to a retained or volunteer firefighter, means the same proportion of whole-time service as that which his actual annual pensionable pay bears to his reference pay;

• “pensionable service”—

  1. (a)

     in relation to the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme, shall be construed in accordance with article 45 of that Scheme;

  2. (b)

     in relation to the New Firefighters’ Pension Scheme, shall be construed in accordance with articles 56 to 60 of that Scheme;

  3. (c)

     F14in relation to the 2015 Scheme, means the continuous period of pensionable service, in relation to an active member’s account for the scheme employment in respect of which the award under this scheme is payable and any of the following types of service that have been added to, or transferred to, that account—

     1. (i)

        if applicable, any periods of pensionable service in relation to the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme or the New Firefighters’ Pension Scheme that relates to the person’s employment which is the same as, or most similar to, the employment in respect of which the award is payable;

     2. (ii)

        if applicable, any periods of pensionable service relating to any transfer value payments accepted under Part 10 (transfers) of the 2015 Regulations in respect of the person’s accrued rights under another occupational pension scheme;

     3. (iii)

        if applicable, any periods of service relating to any pension account entries transferred in accordance with regulation 157 (transfer of pension account entries) of the 2015 Regulations; and

     4. (iv)

        if applicable, any periods of service relating to an added pension account established under regulation 47 (establishment of added pension account) of the 2015 Regulations relating to the member’s scheme employment in respect of which the award is payable, such periods of service are to be calculated in accordance with such guidance as is provided for the purpose by the Government Actuary.

• “qualifying injury” shall be construed in accordance with rule 7 of this Part ;

• “reference pay”, in relation to the pensionable pay of a retained or volunteer firefighter for any period, means the whole-time equivalent pensionable pay for that period of a regular firefighter employed in a similar role and with equivalent qualifying service;

• “regular firefighter” means a person who is employed—

  1. (a)

     by the Board as a firefighter (whether whole-time or part-time), other than as a retained or volunteer firefighter, and

  2. (b)

     on terms under which he is, or may be, required to engage in fire-fighting or, without a break in continuity of such employment, may be required to perform other duties appropriate to his role as a firefighter (whether instead of, or in addition to, engaging in fire-fighting) and whose employment is not temporary;

• F15“relevant service”, except in rule 1 of Part 7 (servicemen) and rule 1 of Part 7A (reservists), means service which either was, or would have been, reckonable as pensionable service but for—

  1. (a)

     an election under article 59 of the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme;

  2. (b)

     an election under article 8 of Part 2 of the New Firefighters’ Pension Scheme;

  3. (c)

     the exercise of an option not to become an active member of the 2015 Scheme in accordance with Chapter 2 (pensionable service) of Part 3 of the 2015 Regulations;

  4. (d)

     a failure to elect under—

     1. (i)

        article 58 of the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme;

     2. (ii)

        article 64 of Part 11 of the New Firefighters Pension Scheme;

     3. (iii)

        regulation 121(3) (contributions during child-related leave) of the 2015 Regulations; or

  5. (e)

     a failure to exercise an option to become an active member of the 2015 Scheme in accordance with regulation 21 (opting into this scheme) of the 2015 Regulations;

• F16“retained firefighter” means a person who is employed by the Board—

  1. (a)

     as a retained firefighter, but not as a regular firefighter or a volunteer firefighter,

  2. (b)

     on terms under which he is, or may be, required to engage in fire-fighting or, without a break in continuity of such employment, may be required to perform other duties appropriate to his role as a firefighter (whether instead of, or in addition to, engaging in fire-fighting),

  3. (c)

     otherwise than in a temporary capacity, and

  4. (d)

     who is obliged to attend at such times as the officer in charge considers necessary, and in accordance with the orders that he receives;

• ...

• “retire” shall be construed in accordance with rule 11 of this Part;

• F17“scheme employment” has the meaning given in regulation 15 (scheme employment) of the 2015 Regulations;

• “state pensionable age” means pensionable age as determined in accordance with the rules in paragraph 1 of Schedule 2 to the Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1995^f4;

• “surviving spouse” means a widow or widower; and

• F18“volunteer firefighter” means a person who is employed by the Board—

  1. (a)

     as a volunteer firefighter but not as a regular firefighter or a retained firefighter,

  2. (b)

     on terms under which he is, or may be, required to engage in fire-fighting or may be required to perform other duties appropriate to his role as a firefighter (whether instead of, or in addition to, engaging in fire-fighting),

  3. (c)

     otherwise than in a temporary capacity, and

  4. (d)

     who is obliged to attend at such times as the officer in charge considers necessary, and in accordance with the orders that he receives;

• ...

Where this Scheme requires anything to be done within a specified period after or from a specified day or event, the period begins immediately after the specified day or, as the case may be, the day on which the specified event occurs.