PAY CUTS for judges will be tied to any reductions that apply to public servants and politicians, under the terms of a constitutional amendment to be put to the people in October.
It is expected senior judges will face pay cuts of about €50,000 a year if the referendum is passed.
Minister for Justice Alan Shatter has received approval from Cabinet for a new wording for Article 35.5 of the Constitution.
Judges have been exempted from pay cuts to date under Article 35.5 which states: “The remuneration of a judge shall not be reduced during his continuance in office.”
The draft new article approved by Cabinet on Tuesday reads: “The remuneration of judges shall not be reduced during their continuance in office save as may be regulated by law on the basis of reductions that are made by law, in the public interest, in the remuneration of persons generally or a class of such persons in the public service, including the Oireachtas and other office holders.”
The wording will now go to Attorney General Máire Whelan for final approval and Mr Shatter will report back to Cabinet once she has signed off on it.
The amendment will allow for legislation to provide for an automatic reduction in the pay of serving judges in line with reductions in public service pay introduced under the financial emergency measures in the Public Interest Act 2009 and under the financial emergency measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Act 2009. The first of those measures was a pension levy on all public servants, except judges, while the second implemented direct pay cuts.
Public servants earning over €200,000 a year had their pay cut by 15 per cent in December 2009. Those earning between €165,000 and €200,000 had a 12 per cent cut and those below €165,000 an 8 per cent cut. Once the referendum is passed those pay cuts will be applied to the State’s judges on the same basis.
The pension levy introduced at the beginning of 2009 will also be applied to judges at the same rate as it applies across the public service.
After the pension levy was introduced, most judges made a voluntary contribution to the Revenue Commissioners but 21 out of 147 judges failed to make any contribution.
Judges earning more than €200,000 will face another cut in the wake of a report into the pay of those in the public service earning over that amount, which is expected to go to Cabinet for approval shortly.
Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin has been working on new pay scales for higher-paid public servants and the constitutional change will allow whatever cuts are agreed to be applied to judges.
The referendum on judges’ pay will take place in October on the same date as the presidential election. Two other referendums, one to give Oireachtas committees new powers of investigation and the other to protect whistleblowers, are also likely on the same day.