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Top judges face 23pc pay cut if referendum is passed - Shatter

The minister publishes draft legislation to cut judges’ pay, which will be enacted if the public approves October’s referendum.

IRELAND’S JUDGES WILL face pay cuts of between 16 and 23 per cent if the public passes October’s referendum allowing the government to cut their wages, under proposals published this lunchtime.

Justice minister Alan Shatter has published draft legislation which he says he will put to the Oireachtas if the referendum is passed, allowing judges’ pay to be cut in line with that those of other public servants.

The specific legislation will allow emergency measures enacted in 2009, which cut public sector pay and also introduced a pension levy, to apply to the judiciary – meaning an overall pay cut of over 23 per cent for the country’s highest-ranking judges.

Hardest hit, in theory, would be the Chief Justice and the president of the High Court, whose pay would be cut by 23.2 per cent in each case – with the Chief Justice losing €68,747, and the President of the High Court €63,691, per year.

In reality the deduction will take a slightly lesser impact on most judges’ pay, as many – though not all – of them had already agreed to allow their salaries be deducted on a voluntary basis.

In addition, the new Chief Justice, Justice Susan Denham, has already volunteered to forego the €38,044 pay raise she would have been due upon her promotion last month.

Shatter also published the full text of the bill providing for October’s referendum, which will replace Article 35.5 of the current Constitution of Ireland with the following text:

5. 1° The remuneration of judges shall not be reduced during their continuance in office save in accordance with this section.

2° The remuneration of judges is subject to the imposition of taxes, levies or other charges that are imposed by law on persons generally or persons belonging to a particular class.

3° Where, before or after the enactment into law of this section, reductions have been or are made by law to the remuneration of persons belonging to classes of persons whose remuneration is paid out of public money and such law states that those reductions are in the public interest, provision may also be made by law to make reductions to the remuneration of judges.

Poll: 94 per cent would cut judges pay. Would you? >

Previously: Shatter and judges in new row over online pay memo >

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4 Comments
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    Mute mickmc
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    May 22nd 2017, 1:31 PM

    And if they accepted the original proposal they’d be better off. Once again we have the union bosses leading their member on a merry dance to no where.

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    Mute Soccer T's
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    May 22nd 2017, 2:36 PM

    @mickmc: At least 87% of the union members voted. Compare this to the numbers of teachers who actually voted to give ASTI a “mandate” for industrial action! Usually around 35/40%

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    Mute Soccer T's
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    May 22nd 2017, 2:51 PM

    @Soccer T’s: Correction: I see that on the last Asti ballot it was 77% of members who voted which probably accounted for the very narrow margin of victory for more industrial action (only 52% in favour) Nice of them to actually turn up to vote this time compared to the vote in 2015 when only a handful of members actually voted, meaning the delusional militants got their way. This is our kids future they are destroying while they couldn’t even take the time to vote!!

    Interestingly the kids sitting the junior cert in a few weeks are the kids who should be sitting the new junior cert 3 years after it was supposed to be introduced!!

    https://www.irishtimes.com/news/education/teachers-threaten-further-industrial-action-after-split-vote-1.2364660?mode=amp

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    Mute booby sandwiches
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    May 22nd 2017, 4:33 PM

    biggest climbdown in history PMSL

    Leo is going to sort these evil unions out #Leoforleader

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    Mute Adrian™
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    May 22nd 2017, 1:39 PM

    What are the terms they are agreeing to? And compared to what they were first offered? Bit more info wouldn’t go astray in the story.

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    Mute Keith Grant
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    May 22nd 2017, 1:29 PM

    Looks like all those weeks of strike were well worth it ay?? Ahahahah

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    Mute Keith Grant
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    May 22nd 2017, 1:28 PM

    Hahahahahah

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    Mute abcyz
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    May 22nd 2017, 1:39 PM

    The union & some drivers were on Liveline etc saying our OAPS & disabled shouldn’t be allowed free travel even tough it was and is widely used for hospital appointments etc. There wasn’t much challenge by media presenters during the strike about the unfair travel card demonisation stories even by drivers themselves on liveline.

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    Mute dead right
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    May 22nd 2017, 2:30 PM

    @abcyz: thats absolute b@llox your spouting no driver or union representative ever said the people you mentioned shouldn’t be allowed travel for free not once.

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    Mute Soccer T's
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    May 22nd 2017, 2:40 PM

    @abcyz: That’s total bull! They suggested that we should revisit the payments made by the government to the free travel scheme. It’s a fixed amount each year no matter how many actually use the service. They were making the point that a huge number of pensioners never even use the travel pass. With the new travel pass surely they can implement a system of “use or lose”. Why should the taxpayer pay for something that isn’t being used? If a pensioners travel pass is cancelled due to lack of use they should be allowed to reapply but simply making blind payments is ridiculous

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    Mute Soccer T's
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    May 22nd 2017, 2:41 PM

    @Soccer T’s: Or maybe we should just offer giving every adult children’s allowance just in case they have kids

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    Mute dead right
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    May 22nd 2017, 2:56 PM

    @abcyz: there wasnt much media challenge on the issue beacuse it was never said ah well you got 26 likes good try

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    Mute Stouts O Shea
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    May 22nd 2017, 5:25 PM

    @Soccer T’s: your day s of scewing the public are over

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    Mute Neal Ireland Hello.
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    May 22nd 2017, 2:04 PM

    Took their sweet time voting, didn’t they.

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    Mute Gerry Carroll
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    May 22nd 2017, 2:57 PM

    Poor mites – already paid more than 40% over the private companies drivers and greed drive them to look for more – diddums. The blatant bleating for ‘all stakeholders’ to get involved was embarrassing; for stakeholders read chequebooks. I’m far from a fan of Transport Minister Ross but in this instance he was right not to dip further into taxpayers’ pockets to transfer their money directly into already overpaid drivers rabid with greed. Looking for a pay rise from a company already trading at a loss? Three weeks on strike and they got a pay cut, redundancies, new rosters, picking litter from buses they never did before, reduced overtime – good work lads.

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    Mute Terry Cahill
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    May 22nd 2017, 1:59 PM

    Scared sitless ! So they were !

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    Mute Paul
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    May 22nd 2017, 1:48 PM

    Shocked they back it and by a high margin.

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    Mute P.J. Nolan
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    May 22nd 2017, 2:12 PM

    @Paul:
    Didn’t thing that would pass

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    Mute Gavin Redmond
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    May 22nd 2017, 2:17 PM

    And the unions saying there still may be a possibility of strike if the company change the agreement. So who is calling the shots.

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    Mute Paul
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    May 22nd 2017, 1:48 PM

    Shocked they back it and by a high margin.

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    Mute Gerry Carroll
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    May 22nd 2017, 4:39 PM

    Not sure it was the union leaving the charge on this – may have been the drivers driving (no pun intended) the union to enable their fanciful out of touch with reality demands

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    Mute Eric Djemba-Djemba
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    May 22nd 2017, 10:00 PM

    Let it rot and die so it can be privatised and ran properly by a company. Don’t know anybody from Wexford that chooses bus eireann over the Wexford bus service as they are miles apart in quality and reliability best thing to ever happen.

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    Mute Jimmy jones
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    May 22nd 2017, 4:35 PM

    What an overpaid clown Dermot o Leary is . He has made them all look very silly

    14
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