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Minister Howlin publishes legislation to implement the outcome to the Referendum on pay of Judges
Public Expenditure and Reform Minister Brendan Howlin has today published the legislation that following the passing of the Twenty Ninth Amendment of the Constitution will apply the pay reductions to serving judges.
The Minister stated
The constitutional amendment which formed part of the Programme for Government was overwhelmingly endorsed by a large majority of the Irish people in the recent Referendum on the issue. This amendment allows for the treatment of the Judiciary in the same way as other public servants to whom the pension related deduction and pay cuts have applied since March 2009 and January 2010 respectively. This will result in immediate saving of paybill costs, and over time these changes will significantly reduce the cost to the taxpayer of supporting the courts system.
Judges appointed after the Bill is commenced will be placed on a lower salary scale than the serving judges affected by this measure. In addition, 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.
For more details read the full press release here.