€1.67 million in judges’ expenses: who claimed what?

The names of judges who claimed a total of €1.67 million in expenses were released today for the first time, following a ruling by the Information Commissioner.

Peter Tyndall ruled the Courts Service was wrong in withholding the names of judges when releasing information on their expenses after an appeal made by The Irish Times.

The figures released cover expenses claimed by 146 judges at Supreme Court, High Court, Circuit Court and District Court levels for the year 2012.

Some €1.67 million was claimed in total. The highest individual claim, of €45,222, was made by District Court Judge Gerard Furlong, who is designated a moveable judge and travels to cover courts around the country.

The lowest claim made was also at District Court level, by Judge Patrick Brady.

At Supreme Court level, of the eight judges appointed in 2012, Mr Justice Frank Clarke had the highest claim of €4,387, including for travel, subsistence, judicial attire and incidental expenses. This was followed by Mr Justice John Murray at €2,271.

The Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Susan Denham claimed €629 and the lowest claim of €591 was made by Mrs Justice Fidelma Macken who retired in the same year. Three Supreme Court judges made no claims at all.

Judges of the High Court claimed a total of €107,606 between them. Mr Justice Paul Gilligan’s claim was largest at €8,219, including more than €5,000 for subsistence, €1,682 for travel and €1,459 for judicial attire and incidental expenses. Mr Justice Michael Hanna had the second largest claim, of €7,200, while the smallest claim, €292, was made by Mr Justice Kevin Cross, who was appointed to the position in 2012.

The total claimed at Circuit Court level was €547,450, most of which was travel and subsistence. The largest claim, €33,698, was made by Judge Desmond Hogan, including almost €27,000 for subsistence and €6,800 for travel. Judge Hogan made no claims for attire or incidental expenses. Judge Patrick Moran had the second largest claim of €33,187.

The 64 District Court judges claimed more than €1 million between them. Judge Gerard Furlong’s claim of €45,222 included almost €30,000 for subsistence and he had no incidental expenses. Judge Seamus Hughes made the second largest District Court claim of €42,217.

Judges can claim a higher mileage rate for travel than that applied to the Civil Service. They can claim 70.89 cents a kilometre if they have a car with an engine size of more than 1,888 cc, with a reduced rate of 34.15 cents for annual distances of more than 6,438 kilometres. The top Civil Service rate is 59.07 cents a kilometre and 28.46 cents at the reduced rate. almost all of the travel expenses claimed by judges related to mileage while the balance, almost €19,000, was for taxis, car parking and other public transport.

The subsistence rate for judges is €121.43 a night while the top rate for the Civil Service is €108.

In a statement, a spokesman for the Courts Service said it had always freely published judges’ annual costs, but doubt existed in terms of personal and security data issues, as to whether it could or should identify each individual claimant.

"Following a decision of the Office of the Information Commissioner, following an FOI request made by The Irish Times newspaper, such information may now be released," he said.

He added there had been no appeal or objection lodged about the release of names by the Courts Service, nor by any serving or retired judge.

The spokesman pointed out that judges in different court jurisdictions are required to travel different distances, stay in different locations, for differing periods of time. Levels of costs incurred vary depending on this and on many other factors including whether a judge is assigned to a court jurisdiction based in Dublin, or one which is spread across the country – such as the District and Circuit Courts.