(1) Subject to this Act, a person who has attained the age of 65 years shall be entitled to State pension (transition) for any period of retirement where he or she satisfies the contribution conditions in section 115.

(2) The periods which shall be regarded for the purposes of this section as periods of retirement shall be specified by regulations.

(3) In this Chapter -

"yearly average" means, in relation to any claimant, the average per contribution year of contribution weeks in respect of which that claimant has qualifying contributions, voluntary contributions or credited contributions in the period beginning either - (a) on 5 January 1953 in case the claimant is a man, or on 6 July 1953 in case the claimant is a woman, or (b) at the beginning of the contribution year in which the claimant's entry into insurance occurred (where after 5 January 1953 in the case of a man, or 6 July 1953 in the case of a woman), (whichever is the later) and ending at the end of the last complete contribution year before the date of the claimant attaining the age of 65 years and where, in the case of a claim made on or after 13 July 1992, the average so calculated is a fraction of a whole number consisting of one-half or more it shall be rounded up to the nearest whole number and where it is a fraction of less than one-half it shall be rounded down to the nearest whole number;