The trade union Impact has welcomed a legal opinion from the European Court of Justice Advocate General, saying it bodes well for 91 Irish civil servants who are fighting for entitlements such as pensions and pay rises in the Labour Court.
The civil servants, who were all employed on fixed-term contracts, were awarded a total of €217,500 in 2005 to bring their entitlements into line with permanent staff. But the Government appealed that decision to the Labour Court, which in turn sent several legal queries to the European Court of Justice.
Yesterday's legal opinion suggests that the Court of Justice will support some of the major arguments made by Impact, on behalf of the 91 workers.
Impact national secretary Louise O'Donnell said the opinion would have positive implications in the future for Irish civil servants fighting for their rights.
"The Government had argued that the Labour Court was not a fit body to hear some of these cases because they were European issues. One of the findings today is that the court is entitled to hear employee-related issues."
Impact had argued that, under a 2001 EU directive, the 91 civil servants were entitled to the same benefits as permanent staff, such as pay increases, pensions and access to promotions. The Government argued they were only entitled to those EU-sanctioned benefits after 2003, when relevant Irish legislation was finally introduced to satisfy the EU directive.
In 2005, the State was ordered to pay compensation to a number of temporary workers, on the basis that it failed to implement the EU directive. The largest awards were worth €40,000, but most were worth between €2,000 and €7,000 to the workers concerned. Today's judgment will not affect the payout amounts, as Irish courts are responsible for determining compensation.
"The most important development arising from the advocate general's opinion today is that the directive does apply to fixed-term public servants' pay and pensions," said Ms O'Donnell. "This is an important victory, which clarifies that public servants, on fixed-term contracts, are entitled to have their pay and pensions aligned with those of their permanent colleagues dating back to 2001." The appeal will not proceed at the Labour Court until the European Court of Justice makes its decision.
Said Ms O'Donnell: "It's a shame this has been hanging over peoples' heads for three years, and that a lot of Civil Service time and taxpayers' money has been effectively wasted. But today's development is very welcome as it clarifies the rights that fixed-term workers have under Irish and EU laws."