The Labour Court recommended that the Health Service Executive pay Ms Carmel Hooton €8,000 and that she accept an offer to be regularised as a Specialist Medical Scientist. Her appeal over her grading failed, and the Court upheld the Adjudication Officer’s recommendation.
The recommendation was dated 23 October 2023. Hooton sought regrading to Chief Medical Scientist (Surveillance), with retrospective effect from her appointment to an acting role. She said the post had previously been held at the more senior grade and that later changes had hindered its correct alignment. The HSE said she was appointed to a Specialist Medical Scientist post in November 2014, and that the Chief Medical Scientist post she sought no longer existed or had an approved budget.
The Court noted the parties had different understandings of the dispute and that the HSE acknowledged a lack of transparency around appointments. It said management was responsible for resource allocation and service delivery, and could not recommend regrading. It recommended the €8,000 compensation in light of the specific circumstances of the case.