53. Cesser or reduction of benefit.
(1) Where a Scheme member or a member of a pre-existing public service pension scheme -
(a) is dismissed, retired or discharged, or resigns or retires, as a consequence of misconduct involving a finding of a financial loss to the public service body or the State, or
(b) otherwise ceases to hold employment -
(i) as a consequence of misconduct involving a finding of a financial loss to the public service body or the State, or
(ii) in contemplation of such a finding which is subsequently made,
then the relevant authority may, in order to make good the loss together with compound interest at a rate as may be determined by the Minister from time to time for the purpose of making good the value of the loss, take any action set out in subsection (2).
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), the relevant authority may -
(a) where contributions would, but for this section, be returned to -
(i) a Scheme member under section 17, or
(ii) a member of a pre-existing public service pension scheme,
reduce or not return the amount of such returnable contributions,