Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)

I am flabbergasted by this. Can we imagine a scene where the clerk of the court sees his wage deducted, while the judge on the bench does not make any contribution? The section refers to making a new deduction from the remuneration of public servants who are members of a public service pension scheme. Judges are either in a public service pension scheme, or they are not. If they are in a public service pension scheme, then they should pay like the rest of us. They should be included in this Bill, and if somebody wants to take a case, then let us await the result. However, it does not make sense that the garda standing in the court must pay the levy, yet the judge does not have to pay anything. It is certainly not a great example to others.

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