ARRANGEMENTS HAVE been made for judges to pay their contribution towards the pension levy to the Revenue Commissioners. The contributions will be voluntary on the part of the individual judge and confidential.
This follows discussions between Chief Justice John Murray and chairman of the Revenue Commissioners Josephine Feehily, about a mechanism whereby such payments could be made.
The talks began shortly after the Act implementing the pension levy came into force.
That Act exempted the judiciary from it on the grounds that the Constitution did not permit its remuneration to be reduced.
Article 35.5 states: “The remuneration of a judge shall not be reduced during his continuance in office.”
There had been widespread criticism of the failure of the judges to make a contribution in line with the pension levy imposed on all public servants.
According to a statement issued yesterday by the Chief Justice through the Courts Service, legal issues arose relating to arrangements for a voluntary contribution of the pension levy in the discussions with the chairman of the Revenue Commissioners.
These have now been resolved, Mr Justice Murray said, and the arrangements for making the contribution will be put in place immediately.
Mr Justice Murray’s statement added that the contribution was constitutionally a matter for each individual judge, and that any arrangements would be confidential between the judge and the Revenue Commissioners.
Some legal sources said such confidentiality was necessary to avoid a perception that individual judges were seeking public approval or career advancement by publicly paying the levy.
The statement said: “Given the economic crisis which has led to the introduction of the pension levy and its general application to those entitled to pensions from the State it is considered that members of the judiciary should be facilitated in making such a voluntary payment.
“Each individual judge is an independent office holder under the Constitution and the law and it must remain constitutionally a matter for each individual judge to decide whether he or she will voluntarily make the contribution in question.
“In order to respect the independence of the judiciary, the individual arrangements between a judge and the Revenue Commissioners for the making of such payments will be confidential.”
Meanwhile, former Supreme Court judge Catherine McGuinness rejected a call from Fine Gael for judges to work an extra month and clear the backlog of judicial reviews. Speaking on Newstalk, she said: “My own experience, particularly where doing a judicial review list, is that you have to do a written judgment on practically every case and you spend a large part of your vacation writing up the judgments that have accumulated, so it’s not all playing golf or whatever,” she said.