The Labour Court reinstated Patrick Donoghue at the National Gallery of Ireland and awarded him €3,000 after finding his repeated fixed-term contracts were not justified. In a determination dated 5 September 2012, the Court overturned the Rights Commissioner’s finding that the Gallery had objective grounds to renew his contract.
Donoghue worked under successive fixed-term contracts. The Gallery said it needed flexibility ahead of planned redevelopment, which could reduce staffing needs, and lacked approval for permanent staff. The Court found there was no realistic timetable for the works when his contract was renewed, while his job met a fixed and permanent need. Avoiding possible future surplus staffing and a potential redundancy liability did not justify the renewals. The Gallery could instead have considered options including redeployment or redundancy.
The Court determined that Donoghue’s contract became one of indefinite duration by law. It required the Gallery to recognise his permanent employment, reinstate him from the date of his purported dismissal and pay €3,000 compensation for breaches of the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act 2003.