I move:—
Go ndeontar suim ná raghaidh thar £34,635 chun slánuithe na suime is gá chun íoctha an Mhuirir a thiocfidh chun bheith iníoctha i rith na bliana dar críoch an 31adh lá de Mhárta, 1930, chun Tuarastail agus Liúntaisí agus Costaisí Oifigeacha Cúirte Cuarda agus Udarásanna Clárathachta Aitiúla áirithe agus chun costaisí Ath-fhéachainte Liostaí Vótálaithe agus Coisteoirí (54 & 55 Vict., c. 66, Alt. 7; Uimh. 10 de 1924, Alt. 45; Uimh. 27 de 1926, Alt. 66; agus Uimh. 15 de 1928, Alt. 9).
That a sum not exceeding £34,635 be granted to complete the sum necessary to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1930, for the Salaries, Allowances and Expenses of Circuit Court Officers, and certain Local Registering Authorities and the expense of Revision of Voters and Jurors Lists (54 & 55 Vict., c. 66., Sec. 7; No. 10 of 1924, Sec. 45; No. 27 of 1926, Sec. 66; and No. 15 of 1928, Sec. 9).
We are here asking for a gross sum of £73,000, less £14,000 Appropriations-in-Aid—that is, a net sum of £59,000 to cover all the expenses of carrying on the office business of the Circuit Court and certain other expenses (such as the judges' travelling expenses) which are really connected with the judges rather than with the offices, but which, not being charged on the Central Fund, must be provided here. As regards the salary list, the first item is the remuneration of the county registrars. Under the Court Officers Act, 1926, the office of Clerk of the Crown and Peace was abolished and the new office of county registrar substituted therefor. The difference between these two officers is that the county registrar is a civil servant who must retire when he reaches a certain age (70); he is paid a fixed salary and he surrenders to the Exchequer all fees received by him, whereas the Clerk of the Crown and Peace held office for life and received, in addition to his salary, certain fees in connection mainly with electoral work. Of the former Clerks of the Crown and Peace all but six or seven voluntarily declined re-employment as county registrars, and of those who accepted such employment two have since retired and one has been dismissed, so that the great majority of the county registrars are new appointees, and their salaries are considerably lower than the salaries paid to their predecessors. After the salaries of the county registrars the next most serious item in the Estimate is the salaries of their staffs. Prior to the Court Officers Act, 1926, these staffs were the private employees of the Clerk of the Crown and Peace, who made his own bargain with them and could increase or decrease the staff, or their salaries, and engage and dismiss men at pleasure.
The State paid to the Clerk of the Crown and Peace a clerical allowance towards the cost of staff, but this allowance was not intended to and did not, in fact, cover the entire cost of staff, nor was the State interested in seeing how the clerical allowance was distributed amongst the staff. Since the Court Officers Act came into operation in September, 1926, the State has assumed direct liability for the salaries of these staffs the salaries paid by the State being the same as were formerly paid—that is, the State ascertained the actual salary formerly paid to each man, whether it came from clerical allowance or from fees, or out of the Clerk of the Crown and Peace's own pocket, and the total amount was fixed provisionally as the man's salary. Here and there were cases where it appeared the clerks were grossly underpaid, and in these cases the salaries were brought up and made a reasonable and decent living wage. The result is, of course, that the cost to the State of these clerks has risen considerably, firstly, because the clerical allowance formerly paid by the State was not sufficient to pay the salaries actually paid by the Clerk of the Crown and Peace, and, secondly, because the salaries so paid were sometimes so inadequate that we obtained the consent of the Minister for Finance for their increase. As against this increase we have benefited in most counties by the reduction in the salary of the head of the office and by the surrender to the Exchequer of the fees formerly retained by the Clerk of the Crown and Peace.
The cost to the State under the old regime of the entire office system of the County Court was about £63,000, a figure somewhat in excess of what is now being asked for, and it must be remembered, in this connection, that the present Circuit Court has taken over a considerable amount of business formerly transacted in the High Court, and that the item of £3,270 for stenography, to use a most horrible, modern word which I loathe, is an entirely new charge not incurred under the former system. The only other very large figure in the Estimate is that at A.3 on page 132. Summons-servers are paid a retaining fee of £20 a year, and there are necessarily a great many of them —about 500. In the same item Deputies will observe that court messengers are mentioned. Most court messengers are the private employees of the under-sheriff, and draw no salary from the State, but there are two classes of court messengers who do receive salaries from the State. When a court messenger happens to be also a summons-server he is paid an additional retaining fee of £20. These cases are comparatively few (20 altogether) and the arrangement is merely a continuation of one which was in operation under the old regime; and, secondly, in three counties where the under-sheriff has died or retired, and where in consequence the county registrar is now responsible for the execution of court orders, we are now employing and paying out of State funds whole-time court messengers. The counties so affected are Waterford, Wexford and Offaly. The rate of pay is £3 a week (without "bonus"). We anticipate an income of £750 in this connection. In sub-head F. we anticipate an income of £11,500 by the surrender of fees paid to County Registrars in connection with the preparation and revision of Jurors' Lists and the register of voters.
