The High Court has dismissed a claim by five Criminal Assets Bureau staff members seeking the higher annual allowance paid to non-Garda bureau officers.
In a judgment delivered on 28 May 2019, Mr Justice Allen found that the plaintiffs had not established a legal basis for the payments they sought. The case concerned liability only: by agreement, any calculation of individual entitlements had been deferred until the court decided that issue.
The plaintiffs worked as forensic accountants and financial crime analysts in the Bureau Analysis Unit. They argued that their duties included attending searches, dealing with potentially dangerous people and giving evidence, and that they should receive the same allowance as non-Garda bureau officers. Their claims were put at between €147,166 and €479,250 each, with a total of €1,222,684, on assumptions that interest and pension reckonability applied.
The Department of Finance had sanctioned allowances for the plaintiffs, but at lower rates than they sought. In 2008, it approved an annual allowance of €9,527, citing occasional field work and professional and technical work. In 2010, it set €9,509 as the maximum, which was conveyed to the plaintiffs in February 2011. The judgment records that the first four plaintiffs received the revised allowance backdated to February 2008, while the fifth received it from the start of her employment.
The judge found that the plaintiffs were professional and technical staff appointed to assist bureau officers, not bureau officers themselves under the legislation. He rejected their arguments that a custom or practice, express or implied contract term, or other legal basis entitled them to the higher rate. He also found that the labels “in-the-field”, “clerical” and “solicitor” for the different allowances were terms used by the plaintiffs, not official designations.
The court said the plaintiffs could pursue a pay claim through the public service conciliation and arbitration process, but that the High Court had no role in adjudicating on pay claims. It dismissed the action.