(1) Subject to this Act, an employee who has attained the age of forty years, but has not attained the age of sixty - five years, before the date of commencement of this section and is a contributor at that date may, before the expiration of the prescribed period, if he is still an employee, elect that such number of units of pension as is specified in the election, being units of pension for which he was a contributor immediately before that date and at the date of the election and the obligation to contribute for which came into existence on or after the date on which he attained the age of forty years, are to be applicable in relation to him as non - contributory units of pension.
(2) An election by an employee under subsection (1):
(a) shall, if it is made after the date of commencement of this section, be deemed, for the purposes of this Division, to have taken effect on that date; and
(b) shall be taken to relate to units of pension in the reverse of the order in which he became liable to contribute for those units.
(3) An election under this section by an employee other than an employee to whom subsection (2BB) of section 19 applies does not have effect, and shall be deemed not to have had effect, in relation to a unit of pension unless, if the election had had effect on the day immediately before the date of commencement of this section, the fortnightly amount of the contributions (other than contributions for reserve units of pension) that, but for the operation of the election in relation to that unit, would have been payable by him to the Fund on that day or, if that day was not a pay - day, that would have been so payable if that day had been a pay - day, exceeds three - one thousand and fortieths of his salary as at that day.
(4) An election under this section by an employee to whom subsection (2BB) of section 19 applies does not have effect, and shall be deemed not to have had effect, in relation to a unit of pension unless, if the election had had effect on the day immediately before the date of commencement of this section, the sum of:
(a) the fortnightly amount of the contributions (other than contributions for reserve units of pension) that, but for this section, would have been payable by him to the Fund under subsection (2BB) or subsection (2BC) of section 19 on that day or, if that day was not a pay - day, that would have been so payable if that day had been a pay - day; and
(b) the fortnightly amount of any other contributions that, but for this section, would have been payable by him to the Fund on that day or, if that day was not a pay - day, that would have been so payable if that day had been a pay - day;
reduced by the fortnightly amount of the contributions ascertained in relation to him in accordance with the appropriate tables set out in the Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Schedules in respect of units of pension in respect of which an election by him under this section has, or is to be deemed to have had, effect, exceeds three - one thousand and fortieths of his salary as at that day.
(5) Where:
(a) after the date of commencement of this section an employee in relation to whom a non - contributory unit of pension is applicable makes an election under this section in relation to a unit of pension (in this subsection referred to as the contributory unit ); and
(b) if the election had been made before the non - contributory unit became applicable in relation to him, the non - contributory unit would not have become so applicable by reason of the operation of subsection (2) of section 22A, subsection (3) of section 22C, section 22D or section 22E of this Act or section 31 of the Superannuation Act (No. 2) 1969 ;
the election under this section does not have effect in relation to the contributory unit.
(6) Sections 135 and 136 do not apply in relation to an election under this section.
(7) For the purposes of this section, the prescribed period is, subject to subsection (8), the period of six months commencing on the date of commencement of this section or, if the Board (whether before or after the expiration of that period) extends that period, the period as so extended.
(8) Where the Board has, under subsection (7), extended the period of six months referred to in that subsection, the Board may (whether before or after the expiration of the period as so extended) further extend, or successively further extend, that period and, in that case, the prescribed period is the period as so further extended.