3. Trivial pension - The actual pension you dad will be paid at retirement will be very little. If you have less than €20,000 after the lump sum has been deducted, he can take the remainder as a lump sum which is liable to tax at 10%. The other plan your dad has is taken into consideration for the €20,000 ceiling. Your dad should give the advisor the value of his other plan and request that New Ireland do a calculation on how much he can put in without going over this amount.
Alternatively, with years service, how much can he put in so he can take the whole lot out as a tax free lump sum at retirement.