The reason for the early exit penalties is the life company are paying the broker's fees. If you pay the brokers fees, those early exit penalties do not apply.
If you are looking to mature the policy, you have two choices:
1. Tax free lump sum based on your salary and years service and purchase an annuity with the remainder - this seems to be the €11,000 plus €456 annuity
2. Tax free lump sum of 25% fund value and the remainder in an AMRF - you can take 4% of the the value each year - €7,750. 4% works out at €930 a year but this will vary based on fund performance.
There are lots of different contract structures in place with various options, so it is likely you can get what you need.
Steven
http://www.bluewaterfp.ie (www.bluewaterfp.ie)