Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

When the Minister spoke about the Judiciary, I wondered whether he seriously expects a garda or other public servant attending a public court to take the kinds of cuts provided for in this Bill while the judge presiding over that court has an option in respect of cuts. There could not be a more dispiriting example of a lack of moral authority. Judges presiding over courts, most of whom are on highly attractive salaries, usually following very successful and lucrative careers at the bar, and who enjoy speeded up pension provisions that acknowledge their position as judges, have a choice as to whether to accept a pay cut, while gardaí, court officers and other court staff must accept fairly swinging cuts that are not optional but directed. Bearing in mind that Mr. Éamon de Valera once declared that no man was worth more than €1,000 per year and employed this principle ruthlessly, the Minister ought to think about some of the founders and example-setters of his party.

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