A District Court judge's salary was almost doubled last year by a record claim of €86,000 in expenses, figures issued by the Courts Service show.
However, the service is not identifying the judge concerned through the Freedom of Information Act because of security concerns for judges and their families.
The judge was the highest claimant among the State's 80 Circuit and District Court judges who last year received more than €2 million in expenses.
Last month the Courts Service said that in 2004 the 46 District Court judges received €1,160,863, while the 34 Circuit Court judges received €884,640. The combined total of €2,045,323 represented a 20 per cent increase on the €1,725,211 paid in expenses to the judges in 2003.
In response to a new FOI request from The Irish Times, the Courts Service said the highest claimant last year was a District Court judge who received €86,451 in expenses. The highest claimant among Circuit Court judges received €63,304.
The highest claiming District Court judge received a salary of €110,254, giving a total of €196,395.
The claimant received more than three times the average expenses of €25,240 for District Court judges.
The figures also show that the 10 District Court judges claiming the highest amounts received more than €500,000 in expenses last year, while their Circuit Court equivalents received €504,301.
The detailed breakdown shows that the top five claimants among the District Court judges last year received €86,451, €64,882, €51,204, €49,265 and €48,857 respectively.
Claims submitted by District Court judges vary widely.
The five claiming the lowest amounts claimed only €14,000 between them, with three receiving less than €3,000 each.
The biggest claimant among Circuit Court judges received €63,304 over and above an annual salary of €132,306, a total of €195,610. Circuit Court judges also benefit from the State employing court criers to be at their service during their work.
Other Circuit Court judges claimed €56,817, €53,815, €50,532 and €50,123 respectively last year. The five submitting the lowest claims received just over €4,500 between them.
The highest claimants have no designated district or circuit and are assigned to travel to various court areas filling in for judges on annual or sick leave.
Judges who administer a large geographical area would also be expected to feature among the top claimants, while those based in Dublin and Cork would receive substantially less than the average.
A Courts Service statement said 99 per cent of expenses paid last year arose from travel and subsistence costs travelling to the 188 District Court and 55 Circuit Court venues outside Dublin. In 2003 this figure came to 98.8 per cent. It added: "Judges are not provided with cars, therefore the travelling expenses claimed by judges cover the use of their own private car, the depreciation to the car, fuel, insurance and tax."
Last month, in refusing to release individual payments, the FOI decision-maker in the case cited Section 24 of the Act, which relates to State security. "Judges have a central role in protecting the security of the State," he wrote, "and I consider that it would be inappropriate to make a decision which would compromise them in carrying out their role and protecting the security of the State . . . The disclosure of information sought on an individual basis will identify those judges who are away from home frequently."
