This is a token vote. It is financial purism really. The position is that this vote is brought before the Dáil to secure its agreement to the payment of the salaries and expenses for seven months of the current financial year of the various officers and offices attached to the Supreme Court and High Court of Justice, which were established under the terms of the Court Officers Act, 1926. Under the operation of that Act which came into operation on 1st September last, the existing Supreme and High Court Offices, except District Probate Registries, disappeared and were replaced by a completely new establishment. The salaries, allowances, etc., of this new establishment for the period 1st September, 1926, to 31st March, 1927, are shown in detail in Part III. of the Supplementary Estimate, and amount to a gross total of £35,118. The final details of the staffing of the various offices are still under consideration, but the ultimate arrangement will not differ in any material instance from the details given in this estimate.
The total cost of the new system over a period of a whole year will show a considerable saving on the system which it has replaced, and will be reflected fully in the 1927-1928 estimates. The actual saving will be about £10,000 per annum. It will be observed from the notes to Part III. of the estimate that a number of officers are on scales of salary in excess of those attaching to the posts which they occupy. These are in nearly all cases abolished officers who have accepted re-appointment under the Court Officers Act and who are being allowed to retain the emoluments which they were in receipt of prior to the coming into operation of the Act. All future appointments to the posts in question will, of course, be on the new scales of remuneration.
Advantage has also been taken of this token estimate to obtain the sanction of the Dáil to an increase of £50 in the sum originally voted for incidental expenses—that is, from £230 to £280— which will, it is considered, prove insufficient as a result of certain small miscellaneous charges arising out of the change over, for instance, stocks and share certificates representing court funds held in the name of the former Accountant-General had to be altered to conform with the change of this officer's title to Accountant, and for this a small fee is charged by the companies who issued the certificates. The gross vote, therefore, amounts to £35,168, and against this is set off a sum of £35,158, representing savings as from 1st September on the salaries, etc., originally voted for the full year for the abolished offices leaving a net token requirement of £10.
