A civil servant who missed out on a four-year Brussels assignment after Irish-language proficiency marks were not included in the competition has been awarded €28,800 by the High Court.
Miss Justice Laffoy ruled that the Department of Transport had infringed Íde de Búrca’s legitimate expectation that bonus marks would be awarded. The court found the Department had not properly ended its existing practice or given affected staff fair notice before omitting the marks from the 2006 competition.
De Búrca, a Higher Executive Officer, had achieved the required standard in written and oral Irish examinations in 2002. She placed third in the competition, with 420 marks, behind candidates who scored 423 and 422. The higher-scoring candidate declined the assignment; the second-ranked candidate accepted it. De Búrca argued that a six per cent increase for Irish proficiency would have put her first.
The Department’s notice described a temporary assignment to work on EU transport matters at Ireland’s Permanent Representation in Brussels, with a higher duties allowance. The court rejected De Búrca’s argument that it amounted to a promotion. It found that Civil Service rules did not recognise “temporary promotion” and distinguished an assignment to higher duties from advancement to a higher grade.
The court also found that the Irish-language circulars applied to internal departmental promotion competitions. But that finding alone did not decide De Búrca’s claim, because the Brussels post was not a promotion. The court instead examined the Department’s past practice and its StaffNet statement, which said marks for Irish proficiency would be awarded for all elements of the competition.
The judge found that the Department had applied those criteria in 2005 competitions for assignments that did not involve promotion. Although it could discontinue that practice, it had not completed the process or notified staff before deciding not to award marks in the Brussels competition. The judge accepted that De Búrca was unaware the marks would not be given.
The court awarded €28,800 for the higher duties allowance De Búrca would have received during the four-year assignment. It rejected her claims for overseas allowances, future salary and pension losses, and loss of a later promotion opportunity. It also found no basis for aggravated or exemplary damages.
The court ordered a declaration that De Búrca’s right, based on her legitimate expectation of Irish proficiency bonus marks, had been infringed, and awarded her €28,800 in damages.