Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny tonight demanded the Government lay bare its legal advice which excludes judges from paying the pension levies.
He accused the Cabinet of making a political decision not to force the 148 members of the judiciary to cough up the same as every other public worker in the State.
The Opposition chief said he didn’t believe the law was stopping elite judges from acting in the public good, the same as 300,000 others who are having to pay the levies.
“The advice of the Attorney General is only that — it is only advice,” he told Taoiseach Brian Cowen in the Dáil.
Mr Kenny said that advice from the Government’s top legal advisor, that a levy would amount to a pay cut, should be published now so others can make up their mind about it.
In the past, advice to Cabinet from previous Attorney Generals had been deemed invalid by the Supreme Court, he said.
Ordinary public workers like young gardaí, nurses and teachers are having to live on as little as €90 a week now because of the various emergency levies brought in to claw back money into State coffers, Mr Kenny told the Dáil.
The Fine Gael leader said it was now a matter of political leadership from the Taoiseach to make a judgment on the basis of advice given to Cabinet.
The public sector pension levies were introduced in the overall public good so they did not impact on the independence of judges, he insisted.
But Mr Cowen was adamant the position of the Attorney General would remain confidential, but said it was based on case law and a clear wording of the constitution.
The initiative to make voluntary contributions was one that was taken by the judiciary itself and he believed they will do so, he added.
The country’s most senior judge dramatically intervened in the row over judges not paying pension levies last night, after it was revealed only 19 of 148 have so far taken up a scheme which allows them make voluntary contributions.
Chief Justice John L Murray said his colleagues on the bench had faced unfair and misleading attacks.
Under the Constitution, judges are excluded from pay cuts.
In a deal struck with the Revenue Commissioners in April the judiciary can contribute towards the economic crisis.
The Chief Justice insisted his colleagues have been given until the end of the year to make the payments.
PA