THE MINISTER for Justice and the Irish Prison Service were "vicariously liable" for the unauthorised release of confidential information concerning a former prison chaplain, according to a background note issued by the Department of Justice yesterday.
A spokeswoman for the department said the secretary general, Seán Aylward, will not be making any personal response to the article in yesterday's Irish Times concerning the allegation he was responsible.
The Irish Times reported yesterday that the Equality Authority had asked the Garda to investigate an allegation that Mr Aylward, while head of the Irish Prison Service, had breached the Employment Equality Acts by the release of a complaint to the Equality Tribunal from a former prison chaplain.
The priest, Fr Donal Morris, was awarded €40,000 in compensation for victimisation arising out of the release of this documentation to his bishop, and his later dismissal as prison chaplain.
In its background note the department stated: "The complainant in the case was for some years the prison chaplain in Castlerea on the nomination of his local bishop. He had a number of issues regarding the pay, grading and status of prison chaplains.
"He claimed that he was discriminated against, on the grounds of his religion, regarding access to the Prison Officer Injury Compensation Schemes, his appointment and removal (which are in the gift of the church authorities) and access to promotional outlets within the prison chaplaincy structure. The equality officer rejected all these claims .
"However the equality officer held that his employer (the Minister/prison service) was vicariously liable for the fact that information that this chaplain had made a complaint under the Employment Equality Acts, made known to the head chaplain, was passed by him to the relevant bishop and that he suffered victimisation as a result.
"The salary of chaplains is paid by the Irish Prison Service but they have never been regarded by the prison service as standard prison service employees. Roman Catholic prison chaplains are not recruited directly but are instead appointed on foot of their personal nomination by the local bishop who is responsible in each case for their assignment and reassignment, which was a regular occurrence.
"The bishop in this instance was therefore regarded by the prison service and its head chaplain as having a quasi "employer" status as regards this chaplain as he held his position at the prison as a priest of the relevant diocese, nominated by his bishop."
Later The Irish Times unsuccessfully sought clarification of the use of the word "vicariously" in the background note.
The case is reported on, without naming the individuals involved, in the Equality Tribunal's Legal Review for 2006.
This states: "The complainant also asserted that the respondent penalised him in circumstances amounting to victimisation under the Acts for having referred his original complaint. In a meeting (which the complainant maintained was the source of the victimisation) attended by the CEO of the respondent organisation, a senior official in the respondent organisation and the head chaplain, a number of issues personal to the complainant were discussed including the fact that he had referred a claim to the tribunal.
"At the meeting, copies of personal documentation were released to the head chaplain by the CEO, and it was agreed that the bishop should be informed of the situation. Subsequently, the complainant was notified by his bishop that he would be removed from his chaplaincy and reassigned to diocesan duties the following year. . .
"The equality officer found that the respondent's decision to release the information it did to the head chaplain without any restriction whatsoever was a factor which contributed significantly to the decision made by the complainant's bishop to withdraw his nomination and remove the complainant from his chaplaincy.
"The equality officer was satisfied that while the head chaplain was not the complainant's line manager in the normal understood sense, as head chaplain he was the conduit between the respondent, the other chaplains and the church authorities, and it was in this capacity that the material was released to him.
"He also found that the respondent should have been aware of the practices as regards the confidentiality surrounding claims before the tribunal and the statutory requirement that investigations are held in private, given that he was in receipt of the complainants original claim, and held that Section 15 of the Acts placed liability for the head chaplain's actions with the respondent, whether or not they were done with his knowledge or approval."
The prison service's current national head chaplain, Sr Imelda Wickham, who did not hold the post in 2004, said yesterday she did not wish to comment. Attempts to contact the relevant bishop, Bishop Christopher Jones of Elphin, were not successful.