The Workplace Relations Commission found Breda Rafter’s age and gender discrimination complaint against the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform was brought outside the time limit and that it lacked jurisdiction; the merits were not decided.
Rafter challenged two competitions for promotion to Principal Officer Higher: an interdepartmental competition and a confined competition within the Department. The WRC found the Public Appointments Service ran the interdepartmental competitions and that the Department had no input in them. It also found Rafter had provided no evidence that the eligibility criteria were discriminatory.
The complaint was received on 5 December 2017, after the latest applicable six-month deadline had expired on 7 August 2017. The adjudication officer refused to extend the time limit, finding no causal connection between Rafter’s cited circumstances and her delay. The decision was dated 4 July 2018.