The High Court is to be asked by the State to appoint a receiver with power to collect from teacher Enoch Burke’s salary outstanding fines.
The move to appoint a receiver “by way of equitable execution” will, if approved, give the State the power to collect from his salary some €79,100 which Mr Burke so far owes in daily €700 fines for turning up at Wilson’s Hospital School in contempt of court orders that he stay away.
Although he was sacked from the school in Westmeath, he continues to be paid his salary on an administrative leave basis because an appeal over his termination is still pending.
Mr Burke, the court heard on Friday, continues to turn up at the school on a daily basis and has entered into the school buildings on a significant number of days. He has also told the principal he was “reporting for work and ready for work”.
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He has already spent 512 days in prison during three separate periods over his contempt, was released before Christmas and returned to the school in the new year. However, there was no application to jail him again at that point and the court turned its attention to enforcing the fines for his daily contempt which had built up.
The case came back on Friday before Mr Justice David Nolan who last month gave the Attorney General (AG) liberty to apply for a conditional “garnishee” order so that the daily fines would be paid directly from Mr Burke’s salary.
He also directed Mr Burke to provide details of his means as the judge said he intended to increase the daily fine as well as hear a garnishee application.
On Friday, the judge increased the daily fine to €1,400 in view of Mr Burke’s continuing contempt.
Mr Burke did not appear before the court as he was again at the school on Friday but he sent an affidavit disputing the judge’s findings last month and also saying he could not “in all good conscience” provide details of his means to the court.
His mother Martina, sister Ammi and brother Isaac did attend court although they arrived after the case had started.
There were a number of interruptions from Isaac and Martina as the judge tried to speak before the judge eventually asked that the gardaí be called. Isaac and Martina then left the courtroom while Ammi stayed and largely remained silent until the judge was rising to leave.
In his submission on behalf of the AG, Brian Kennedy SC said the AG considered that while the garnishee order was one approach to enforcing the fines which could be considered by the court, there was a certain legal complexity to it. In relation to information relating specifically to Mr Burke’s salary, the AG considered a court order was required because of possible GDPR issues.
The AG had considered that it might be appropriate to pursue the alternative approach of the appointment of a receiver by way of equitable execution and counsel was looking for leave to do so, Mr Kennedy said. While it was not entirely straightforward from a legal point of view, the AG was prepared to make the application on notice to Mr Burke, he said.
The AG was also seeking an order directing the Department of Education, which pays Mr Burke’s salary, to take the necessary action to prepare for the implementation of any order the court may make in relation to his salary or his bank account, counsel said.
Rosemary Mallon BL, for the school, said she was formally seeking that the court increase the daily fine to €1,400 in view of the continuing contempt of court by Mr Burke.
The judge granted leave to the AG and to the Ministers for Education and Finance to issue the application to seek a garnishee or appoint a receiver.
He granted an order directing the Department of Education to set out Mr Burke’s means in relation to his gross and net salary and any other benefits he enjoys. He further directed the Department to take steps to implement any court order that may be made in relation to those payments.
He said that the increased €1,400 per day fine would apply from the day of the perfection of his order and would remain in place until he purges his contempt.
The judge said he would hear the State applications on March 18th.
