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THE PENSIONS PAID to top Irish judges have been revealed in advance of new legislation coming into play that will cut judges’ salaries.
The information was made available following a parliamentary question from Sinn Fein’s Gerry Adams last week when he asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin if he would provide a breakdown of the pensions paid to retired judges of the Supreme Court.
The information about the 12 former Supreme Court and 10 High Court judges shows that 13 of them have pensions that are worth more than €100,000 a year.
The Supreme Court judges who receive the highest pensions are Mr Justice Tom Finlay and Mr Justice Ronan Keane, who each receive €133,443 a year.
The High Court judges who receive the largest pensions are Mr Justice Ricky Johnson and Mr Justice Fred Morris, who each receive €124, 142.
The combined total for the High Court judges’ pensions is €1,001,057.86 while for the Supreme Court Judges it is €1,300898.73.
On 18 November, Minister Brendan Howlin published the judicial pay legislation which was voted for by members of the public in the recent Referendum.
Judges appointed after the Bill is commenced will be placed on a lower salary scale than the serving judges affected by this measure.
The new pension arrangements for public servants will also apply to newly appointed judges, once the legislation establishing the single pension scheme, which is currently going through the Oireachtas, is passed.
It is anticipated that the Bill will be enacted in time to apply the pay reductions from 1 January 2012.
The provisions of the Bill will result in the reduction of the remuneration of serving judges ranging from 23 per cent to 16 per cent.
The reduction in remuneration for future new entrant judges ranges from 31 per cent to 25 per cent.
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Sigh, I think it’s a distraction to put public anger against judges. Is it just me or are the rumours for the upcoming budget severely lacking in showing the political class and it’s ‘senior civil servant’ advisors doing anything to curb their own excesses?
These pensions come to less than 2.5 million. It’s a lot of money, and the government would be right to claw some of it back for the public purse, but it’s still a drop in the ocean of waste and I can’t help but feel like it keeps getting trotted out to a pretty complacent and sensationalist media.
Judges have high pay and pensions. We’ve had a referendum. There are cuts being brought in to judges pay. The horse is pretty much glue by now, what’s left to flog
This is not information which the Government Parties have dug up as a diversion.
It was as a result , I Believe due to the questions and demands of Gerry Adams on the Government to release the information to us as Citizens , so that we can recognise the gravy train , in which these people have been rifling the tills of Government coffers for generations now!
If he and his Party had not sought the information exposing this disgraceful situation , in my opinion the Government Parties would never have volunteered the information.
Nothing changes, same shit different day. Robin Hood in reverse. Rob the poor give to the “elite class”.
That’s right, the judiciary don’t matter in a functioning democracy. We don’t need their expertise. Ignorant pig.
There is always a massive backlash against the rates of pay and pensions in general but does anyone put a value on the amount of time, study and intelligence it takes to become a judge. I think the pensions given to useless clowns like our former Regulator are a joke but in some cases people work their lives for a good pension and almost everyone here strives toward financial reward.
Agree! If I became a judge I’d want look forward to a very comfortable retirement
Why should they be paid extra for ‘intelligence’? That was a gift they got at birth, no credit to themselves at all.
As for the study…most of our judges were in the privileged position of having parents who paid for their private education.
I believe judges should be well paid because of the work they do and the responsibility they take on.
I also think it is time we had more judges from less privileged backgrounds.
Elizabeth that’s quite a closed minded view of it. My sister is a barrister from an working class area who didn’t have the benefit of “connections” and who has achieved a lot through nothing but hard work. She wasnt born intelligent and then just went on auto pilot to get 570 in her LC and then for her Doctorate. She worked hard for it and that kind of attitude and dedication is applicable to a lot of people in many walks of life. I think people should be rewarded for pensions based on the competancy of their service.
I actually thought they would have higher pensions, it’s less than some senior civil servants and at least theres a bit of transparency and accountability with what judges do.
have your say