The Labour Court reinstated Liane Kirwan and ordered The Teaching Council to pay her arrears of wages after finding that it dismissed her to avoid her fixed-term contract becoming indefinite. The determination was dated 26 July 2012.
Kirwan had worked on 14 successive fixed-term contracts before her final contract expired on 31 October 2011. The Council said the relevant ministers had not approved another renewal, citing a public-service recruitment moratorium. Kirwan argued that ending her employment was intended to prevent her contract becoming indefinite.
The Court found that the continuing need for her work, her replacement by agency staff and the timing of her dismissal supported her case. It concluded that avoiding an indefinite contract was the operative reason for the dismissal, amounting to penalisation under the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act 2003. Kirwan’s appeal against the remedy was allowed, and the Council’s cross-appeal was disallowed. The Rights Commissioner’s €10,000 compensation award was varied to reinstatement and arrears; the Court stated no amount for the arrears. The other complaints had been found not well-founded, and the alleged section 8 breach was not before the Court on appeal.