Judges' expense bill increased to €1.8m last year

One District Court judge last year received €61,058 in expenses that included arrears payments of €36,919.

New figures released by the Courts Service show that Judge Cormac Dunne received the highest expense payments of any judge in 2018.

Judges on the Supreme Court claimed a total of €5,572 in expenses with Chief Justice Frank Clarke receiving €1,859 in expenses.

The Supreme Court, High Court and Court of Appeal judges receive modest expenses due to them presiding for the most part in Dublin.

The Courts Service state the level of costs recouped by each judge are a direct reflection of the work, numbers of sittings and the locations he or she is required to attend.

The Courts Service point out that for the district court, it sits throughout the year in scores of venues across the country and is the busiest, largest and most geographically dispersed Court in the country.