ALL SUPREME Court judges and High Court judges are entitled to an annual tax-free allowance of over €9,000 to cover the provision of “a study and suitable library conditions” in their homes, the Department of Justice has disclosed in a letter to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
The Dáil’s spending watchdog requested a breakdown of all the expenses to which judges are entitled. It was posted by the PAC on its website yesterday.
Judges of the High Court can claim a sum of €1,339 in mileage and incidental expenses for a sitting lasting a fortnight when an original action is heard in Cork, Ennis, Galway, Sligo and Limerick. The figure reduces to €1,015 for the same period for sittings in Kilkenny or Waterford, and to €813 for cases in Dundalk.
The library allowance for judges in their homes is deemed tax-free under section 164 of the Finance Act 1994.
The letter also discloses that judges of the Circuit and District Courts get the standard Civil Service overnight rate of €122 to cover accommodation and meals. While it does not specify the rate for judges of the High Court, it is assumed they are entitled to claim similar rates for accommodation.
The request for more information was made during a hearing of the PAC in July when it was revealed that Circuit Court judges who were at sittings away from their homes were entitled to “sitting room expenses” and “garage expenses”.
Committee chairman Bernard Allen likened some of the arcane allowances “to the moat allowance in the House of Commons”. This was a reference to Tory MP Douglas Hogg’s controversial expenses claim for cleaning a moat at his country residence.
The letter, written by a senior official at the Department of Justice, accepted that some parts of the system for expenses, which has evolved over decades, were “cumbersome”.
It disclosed that judges of the District and Circuit courts are paid mileage expenses from their home to courts.
The sitting room allowance is paid at a rate of €36.69 to Circuit Court judges who are away from home. It is additional to their overnight accommodation expenses.
“The allowance is designed to allow Circuit Court judges to work in their accommodation after court, consulting as necessary books of evidence, statements of claim, legal precedents and relevant statutes,” it stated.
“A garage allowance of €4.37 is designed to allow [judges] to park their cars securely [at night].”