Dr Oisín Powell secures temporary injunctions against Beacon Hospital

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Emergency medicine consultant Dr Oisín Powell secured temporary High Court injunctions over the alleged unlawful termination of his employment contract. Mr Justice Paul Gilligan granted the orders against Beacon Hospital Sandyford Limited. The proceedings were reported on 12 December 2014.

The orders prevented the hospital from appointing anyone else to his position or announcing that his employment had ended. They also restrained it from announcing that he was unfit or unable to provide services or perform his contractual duties.

The injunctions were granted on an ex parte basis, with only one side present, and were returnable the following week.

Peter Ward SC, for Dr Powell, said his client had worked at the hospital since 2010 under successive fixed-term contracts. His current contract was due to expire at the end of 2015. Counsel said Dr Powell was concerned about the effect of the purported termination on his reputation. He had heard from colleagues that he had “walked out”, which counsel said was untrue.

Counsel said Dr Powell’s weekly hours had been reduced from 35 to 20 the previous month. He had told management he did not accept the reduction, considered it a breach of contract and intended to bring proceedings. The report said he was informed earlier that week that his contract was being terminated.

Counsel said the hospital could summarily terminate the contract only if Dr Powell was unfit or unable to carry out his duties, which counsel said was not the case. In an affidavit, Dr Powell said he believed his contract was terminated because he intended to bring proceedings over the reduction in his hours.