The Workplace Relations Commission has ordered the Minister for Agriculture, Food & the Marine to pay €25,000 to Padraic O'Toole after finding that a demand for berth fees was retaliation for a protected disclosure. The decision was dated 22 April 2024.
O'Toole, who worked at Rossaveal Fishery Harbour Centre, complained that he was penalised after raising concerns about harbour matters, including overtime and the handling of public resources. The Minister denied penalising him and said changes to his duties were made for operational reasons.
The adjudication officer found that O'Toole's complaints raised on 23 June 2022 were protected disclosures. The officer limited consideration of alleged penalisation to events between 22 October 2022 and 21 April 2023, after refusing an extension of the time limit. The officer found that the failure to investigate the disclosure or provide an investigation report was not a detriment under the Act, and that a later memo directing harbour users to contact the Harbourmaster was for operational reasons. But the demand that O'Toole pay fees for his vessel resulted from his disclosure. The officer declared the complaint well founded and ordered €25,000 compensation.