New story from Irish Times published by Mortimer Goth Decemebr 15, 2009

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Referendum needed on reduction in judicial pay

In the 1958 landmark judgment of O’Byrne v Minister for Finance, the Supreme Court rejected the contention of deceased Supreme Court judge John O’Byrne’s widow that this provision precluded the State from imposing income tax on his salary. Chief Justice Maguire asserted that “to require a judge to pay taxes on his income on the same basis as other citizens and thus to contribute to the expenses of government cannot be said to be an attack upon his independence”. However, both Chief Justice Maguire and other court members distinguished between imposing on judges’ non-discriminatory taxes common to all and a tax particular to a judge which would, in the words of Mr Justice Kingsmill-Moore, “worsen his position vis-a-vis the rest of the citizens of the State”. More: http://tinyurl.com/compensation235