asked the Minister for Justice if he will state (i) the conditions governing and the terms of remuneration of persons appointed to act as temporary judges of the Circuit Court which were in force prior to the 15th February, 1948; (ii) whether such persons were paid for days upon which they did not sit; (iii) the conditions governing remuneration which are at present in force, and (iv) whether these conditions now provide that temporary judges will be paid in respect of days upon which they do not sit; further, if he will state the number of appointments to temporary Circuit Court judgeships which have been made since the 15th February, 1948, the periods covered by each such appointment, the person appointed in each case, the conditions relating to remuneration under which each such person was appointed and the terms of the statutory authority under which each such appointment was made.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Temporary Circuit Judges.
The terms of the remuneration of temporary circuit judges have varied from time to time. The earliest appointees were paid for the period of their appointment at the same rate as a circuit judge. Later they were paid so much for each day upon which the court sat, subject to the condition that over a period of a year a temporary judge should not receive more than the annual salary of a circuit judge. The actual rates were fixed ad hoc on each occasion an appointment was made and rates of seven, eight, nine and ten guineas a day have been paid at different times.
When in January last it became necessary to make a temporary appointment, it was decided, after consultation with the President of the Circuit Court and full consideration of the matter in all its bearings, to revert to the system of remunerating the temporary judge for the period of his appointment at the rate of a circuit judge.
Since 15th February, 1948, only one person has been appointed to be a temporary circuit judge, namely, Mr. John C. Conroy, S.C. Mr. Conroy was originally appointed on the 1st January last for a period of six months and was subsequently reappointed for two further periods. His present appointment is due to expire on the 3rd April, 1950. The appointments were made under the provisions of Section 14 of the Courts of Justice Act, 1936, on the terms, as regards remuneration, that Mr. Conroy should be paid at the same rate as a circuit judge.