Madam, – As only 19 of the country’s members of the judiciary have seen fit to take a pay cut in the present times, it is time to hold a referendum (on the same day as Lisbon 2), to reduce the pay of all judges by 20 per cent across the board on a permanent basis.
Let the people rule. Or would this only set a precedent to be used against politicians and civil servants? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – In recent days we have seen the judges of this country at the heart of a political controversy about their alleged failure/delay in opting in to the voluntary deductions scheme, set up as a result of the Attorney General’s advice that Article 35.5 of the Constitution precluded any reduction in a judge’s remuneration, including by way of the pension levy.
This constitutional provision has already been tested in the courts and it has been found that it does not prohibit judges paying income tax on their salaries, as this is a measure which is applied to all workers in the country. Surely the same applies to the pension levy – it is applied generally to workers in the public sector and therefore there is no specific targeting of judges and no constitutional impediment to its application to them.
Furthermore, Article 35.5 is supposed to protect judicial independence and ensure that the political organs of government cannot punish a judge for an unpopular decision. The creation of the voluntary scheme and the political pressure now being placed on judges to take part in that scheme seems to go against the underlying concept of Article 35.5: that the judiciary should not be drawn into political controversies. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Maybe the way forward in encouraging high earners in our society, such as judges, to take a pay cut is to allow the cut in wages be directed to increase expenditure in a specific area where it is felt there has been a unacceptable cut in Government expenditure, such as in Irish development aid, which has been cut by €140 million so far this year.
Allowing this system to operate would ensure that people feel their earnings cut would be going to an area in which they believe is worthwhile rather than into a bottomless pit that Government bail-outs represent. – Yours, etc,