Our Ref: July 2017 Mr Justice Birmingham President of the Association of Judges of Ireland The our Courts Dublin 7 Dear Justice Birmingham 1 Wish to refer to your correspondence dated 121h July to Paschal Donohoe TD, Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform and to my response letter, on behalf of the Minister, dated 18 July to your previous correspondence of 22nd June. It appears that the recent correspondences of 12?h and 18?h July may have crossed in the post. Further to my letter dated 18 July, I understand that a meeting with officials from this Department and the Department of Justice and Equality has been scheduled to take place on Tuesday, 25th of July at 5 pm concerning matters arising in connection with remuneration natters and related issues in respect of the Judiciary. it is furthermore the case that the Minister will be keeping himself fully apprised of developments in relation to these important policy matters in respect of the Judiciary. Yam?Q Qinr?etelv it a. 4. In?? 5 .: gagei.t 5, Michelle O?Connor Private Secretary to the Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform wwuspergovie {Qua arbor-i, sure. ASSOCIATION OF JUDGES Oil 12th July 2017 Paschal Donohoe, TD. Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure Reform Government Buildings Merrion St. Dublin 2 Re Public Service Pay Commission proposals Dear Minister, There has been no contact with the judiciary since the conclusion of the public sector pay talks and there has been no indication how it is envisaged that the outcome of those talks will impact on the judiciary. I would make some observations. It should not be assumed that considerations that apply across the public service apply without the need for speci?c consideration in the case of the judiciary. For the most part judges were appointed to the bench at a time when there was an unquali?ed constitutional guarantee that their remuneration would not be reduced during their period of service. That position has of course been altered as a result of the referendum of October, 201 1. However, that simply provides for a derogation from the general and as the country emerges from the ?nancial emergency judges look to see a restoration of their terms and conditions of service. There have been media reports, some, though not all of which, have referred to the judiciary stating that in the case of persons who joined the public service pre 2013 and were in receipt of old style accelerated pensions, that what is intended is that the Pension Levy Deduction will be converted into a permanent contribution. I do not believe that the position of judges can be equated with others in the public service such as gardai and the Defence Forces who receive a pension after less than 40 years service. In the cases of gardai and the Defence Forces, this happens because they are required to retire early. The position of judges, on the other hand, is quite different in that, far from having an early retirement age, most judges retire at 70. A combination of the requirement to have a number of years in practice as a solicitor or barrister before appointment and the retirement age means that in practice it is impossible for a judge to accumulate 40 years service. The Association ofJudges of Ireland President: Mr Justice George Birmingham The Four Courts, Dublin 7, Ireland. Secretary: Mr Justice John Edwards e: enquiry@aji.ie. w: Treasurer: Judge Catherine A. Murphy There is a further consideration and it is one which applies almost uniquely to the judiciary. Public service pensions, in this case judicial pensions, and any private pensions an individual may have from their time in private practice as a lawyer are aggregated. If the aggregate amount exceeds the pension threshold then the excess is subject to punitive taxation. The effect of all of this is that the pension regime for judges is far less attractive than might appear at ?rst sight. To exclude judges from the general ameliorating provisions in relation to the Pension Levy would be quite unfair. I would ask you to give this matter careful consideration. I would be glad to meet with you and/or with your of?cials to discuss this issue. Kind regards, Yours sincerely, 1,99%? rge Birmingham President of the Association of Judges of Ireland Our Ref: July 2017 s' .1, m. Mr Justice Birmingham President of the Association of Judges of lreland The Four Courts Dublin 7 Dear Justice Birmingham i refer to your recent correspondence to Minister Paschal Donohoe TD. concerning matters arising in connection with the remuneration and related issues concerning the Judiciary. The Minister has asked me to say that he regrets that he will not be in a position to meet with you personally to discuss your particular issues of concern. However, the Minister has requested his officials to arrange a meeting with you and your colleagues at the earliest opportunity in order to address the matters outlined in your correspondence. i understand that officials will be directly in touch with you on foot of this correspondence. It is furthermore the position that the Minister will be keeping himself fully apprised of developments in relation to these important policy matters in respect of the Judiciary. Yours sincerely If: 2' I '9 firlVIichelle O?Connor Private Secretary to Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform 1 +353 i 675 "7572?. 5" +353 l. 678 9.935 57+? W5. UJ LU Lupe rig 0v. i ea?? ?5 . l" 15ft" fr, .6, Jaw assocmrion or IUDGES or IRELAND 22nd June 2017 Paschal Donohoe, TD. Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure 82; Reform Government Buildings Merrion St. Dublin 2 Re Public Service Pay Commission proposals Dear Minister, I refer to my recent correspondence to you seeking an opportunity to meet with those involved on behalf of the Government in the recent pay talks. That meeting took place and I am grateful to you for your assistance in facilitating it. At the meeting I made the point that we would be happier to be meeting with an independent body tasked with dealing with issues relating to remuneration and the terms and conditions of service of judges. Such a body was recommended by GRECO and that recommendation was speci?cally accepted by Government. However, to date it has not been implemented. In the course of that meeting I made the point that while initially while judges were regarded as exempt from the impact of some of the changes that were taking place against the background of the ?nancial crisis, that ultimately all changes impacted on judges and that the cumulative effect of the various changes meant that the judiciary were impacted upon in a very severe way indeed. No other group has been impacted by quite the same range of measures. The A1 I has not had any formal feedback following the conclusion of the recent pay talks but some media reports, though not all, have suggested that it is envisaged that judges, certainly those appointed pre 2013 will not benefit from the changes preposed in relation to the pension levy deduction. Any suggestion of excluding judges from the bene?t of the changes would be greeted with dismay. It should also be pointed out that any such proposal would be unjusti?ed. That would be so because judicial pensions are not nearly as attractive as might appear at first The Association ofludges of lrelancl '2 President; It'll Justice- Cu'a-olge- Birminuhm ii i The Four th?ll'l?s. Dublin Ireland. Secretary: Mr Justice John firth-wards i e: w: sight. There have been a number of changes to judicial pensions in recent years. Without consultation or discussion the period of service required to bene?t for a full pension was increased in the case of judges of the Circuit, High, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court from 15 years to 20 years. Recent appointees pay contributions at a higher level than was previously the case and the pension that will be paid will for various reasons, such as career averaging, be less than previously applied. An area of particular concern is the way in which public service or judicial pensions and private pensions are aggregated. Judges are with very few exceptions recruited in mid to late working life from the private sector. As most will have been self employed it is to be hoped and expected that they will have made provisions for their pensions but as a result of recent changes their private pensions and their public judicial pensions will be aggregated and the private pension subject to con?scatory taxation The reality of this is that the pension provisions are not remotely as attractive. as would seem otherwise. Linking judges to groups in the public service who are in receipt of accelerated pensions is quite Other groups are required, by reason of government policy, to retire at an early stage. There is no question of judges being required to retire early, or indeed being in a position to retire early. Rather, the situation is that judges are not eligible for appointment until they have been in practice for a number of years. The number of years required varies from court to court but in practice individuals will usually have served far more than the minimum before they would even be considered for appointment. I would ask for an urgent meeting with you and your of?cials to discuss how proposed changes will impact on the judiciary. I look forward to hearing from you in that regard as a matter of real urgency. Kind regards, Yours sincerely, 2. 2.2 ?eorge Birmingham esident of the Association of Judges of Ireland Fin Roinn Caiteachais Phoibli OIHG 6N QIRE agus OFFICE: OF THE MINISTER Department of Public Expenditure and Reform Our Ref: 79% May 2017 Mr Justice George Birmingham President of the Association of Judges of Ireland The Four Courts Dublin 7 Dear Justice Birmingham I refer to your recent correspondence and phone conversation with Mr Brian O?Malley an of?cial from my Department regarding the Public Sector pay talks and note the issues raised. In an effort to further progress matters, I am writing to con?rm that Mr Colin Menton, Assistant Secretary with responsibility for Remuneration and Industrial Relation matters will meet with you to address your concerns regarding these issues. Mr Menton?s of?ce will be in contact to schedule a meeting with you in the coming weeks. Yours sincerely Ma?a Paschal Donohoe TD Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform TIthe an Rialtais, Government Buildings, Sr?id Mhuirfe?n Uacht, Upper Merrion Street, T: +353 1 6'76 7571 Baiie Fltha Cliath 2, Dublin 2, F: +353 1 678 9936 D02 R583, Eire. D02 R583, Ireland. qr i oo?ic i i Petf: @l ASSOCIATION OF JUDGES OF IRELAND 16?? May 2017 Paschal Donohoe T.D. Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Department of Public Expenditure and Reform Government Buildings Upper Merrion Street Dublin 2 D02 R583 i 9 MAY 23237 Dear Minister, We note that following publication of the Report of the Public Service Pay Commission that you have invited the public service unions to talks which are expected to commence shortly with the public sector unions. When talks last took place, which resulted in the Lansdowne Road Agreement, there were discussions alongside those talks involving the Association of Judges of Ireland, with of?cials of your department and of the Department of Justice led by Ms Oonagh Buckley, the chief government negotiator in the talks. I would urge strongly that such an exercise should be repeated on this occasion. My colleagues and I on the Executive on the AJ I will make ourselves available to engage. This seems the appropriate time to address the issue of judicial remuneration in a wider context. The report of GRECO published in October/November 2014 recommended the establishment of an independent body to address issues relating to remuneration and terms and conditions of service of judges. That recommendation was speci?cally and publicly accepted by the Government. However, although the time for implementing the GRECO recommendations has long since expired, neither that nor indeed any of the other GRECO recommendations has been implemented. I would suggest respectfully that now is the time to act. Very disturbingly, there has been some media speculation that, in the context of the public service pay talks that there might be moves to further disimprove the pension provisions that are applicable to members of the judiciary. I feel I should make it clear that any such suggestion would be quite unacceptable to members of the Association of Judges of Ireland. Recent years have seen a number of adverse impacts on pension arrangements. The period of service required to qualify for a full pension in courts other than the District Court was increased from 15 years to 20 years. This change took place without any discussion or consultation and apparently without regard to the impact it was likely to have on the capacity to recruit leading ?gures from the legal professions. Contribution rates for recent appointees were raised from 4% to 13% and this alongside the imposition of the Pension Levy. It will be recalled that when the levy was ?rst introduced, the View was taken by the President: Mr Justice George Birmingham The Association ofJudges of Ireland The Four Courts, Dublin 7, ireiand. Secretary: Mr Justice John Edwards i e: enquiry@aji.ie. w: i Treasurer: Judge Catherine A. Murphy Government of the day that the Constitution prevented it from being applied to members of the judiciary. Nonetheless the overwhelming majority of judges opted to pay the levy on a voluntary basis. A further and very particular dif?culty arises from the manner in which private pensions and public pensions are aggregated. Public pensions are deemed to have a notional value for personal threshold purposes. If a judge has a private pension fund from his or her time as a barrister or solicitor, then the combined fund is likely to exceed the threshold, this is certain in the case of the Superior Courts, and will be liable to punitive, con?scatory taxation. In these circumstances, references to judges having gold-plated or platinum pensions are very wide of the mark indeed. The changes that have taken place in recent years across a range of areas effecting the terms and conditions of service of judges has impacted adversely on the ability to attract applications from the very best potential candidates. As the economy strengthens, and with it the market for legal services, that situation can only be expected to worsen. The coming months offer an opportunity to address these issues and I would urge that it be taken. Kind regards. Yours sincerely, 7 Ree-v1 /Giwrge Birmingham? President of the Al I OIFIG FIN QIRE 9n IEfaritrz?cl'iais Phoibli OFFICE or THE. MENISTER . a Sub?: \Expenditure and Reform Our Ref: a?ii?v 10 May 2017 Mr Justice Birmingham President of the Association of Judges of Ireland The Four Courts Dublin 7 Dear Justice Birmingham 1 refer to your recent correspondence regarding Judicial Pay and in particular the application of Section 6C (3) of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2015. In accordance with the relevant provisions of the 2015 Act, I can con?rm that pay restoration due to members of the judiciary effective from 1 April 2017 has been paid to these members from 1 April 2017 in line with that of other public servants. My Department is currently in the process of ?nalising a Government Order to give full legislative effect to these arrangements. However, I am fully conscious that the completion of this Order should not delay payments that are due to members of the judiciary which are effective from 1 April 2017. In that regard, my of?cials have instructed Payroll Shared Services Centre to apply the appropriate EMPI revised pay rates from 1 April 2017. I trust this to be in order. Yours sincerely Paschal Donohoe TD Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Tithe an Rialtais. Government Buildings, Sr?id Mhuirfea?n Uacht, Upper Merrion Street, T: +353 1 676 7571 Baile ntha Cliath 2, Dublin 2, F: +3531678 9936 D02 R583, Eire. D02 R583, Ireland. OlFlC-z 9N OFFICE QFTHE CD 0 at? Our Ref: l. '2 April 2017 Mr Justice George Birmingham President of the Association of Judges of Ireland The Four courts Dublin 7 Re Section of EMPI Act 2015 Dear Justice Birmingham Hn Roinn Caiteachais Phoibli agus Department of Public Expenditure and Reform I wish to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 28 March 2017 in relation to the restoration of salary cuts that were introduced by Section 2A of FEMPI Act 2013. Yours sincerely TD Paschal Dono Minister f0 ublic Expenditure and Reform {\olEd 04nd ?1 WM (gimb- @0120, Tithe an Rialtais, Government Buildings, Sr?id Mhuirfe?n Uacht, Upper Merrion Street, T: +353 1 676 7571 Belle cha Cliath 2, Dublin 2, F: +353 1 678 9936 DOB R583, Eire. D02 R583, Ireland. \mcl?x ASSOCIATION OF JUDGES OF IRELAND 28th March 2017 Paschal Donohoe T.D. Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Department of Public Expenditure and Reform Government Buildings if 3 1 MAR 1317 Upper Merrion Street .. Dublin 2 Re Section of FEMPI Act 2015 Dear Minister, As you are aware that section provides for the partial restoration of salary cuts that were introduced by section 2A of FEMPI Act 2013. It has been indicated that applying the measure to the judiciary requires a Government Order and that the Order will not be drafted in time in order to allow payment to the judiciary at the same time as all other public servants who come within the relevant section. Apparently what is proposed is that when the Order is eventually drafted and made that the due payment will then be made retrospectively. This is not at all a satisfactory situation. First of all, it is the case that there are members of the judiciary who are struggling to get by and can ill afford to wait. Moreover, because the restoration will not take place on the due date and on the same date as all the other public servants that are bene?ting there is a real risk that when the restoration eventually takes place that it will be misreported in the media as representing some sort of special increase for judges. I would urge you to do all you can to ensure that payment for judges takes place at the same time as all other public servants in the relevant category and if that proves utterly impossible that payment should take place at the earliest possible date and sufficiently proximate to the payment to others that there will be no misunderstanding about this being a special or particular increase. I am available to discuss this if required. Kind regards. Yours sincerely, QM gem. CL feonge Birmingham resident of the Al I The Association ofJudges of Ireland President: Mr Justice George Birmingham The Four Courts, Dubiih 7, Ireland. Secretary: Mr Justice John Edwards e: w: Treasurer: Judge Catherine A. Murphy i i