The High Court has dismissed claims by five staff members of the Criminal Asset Bureau (Cab) over the State’s refusal to pay them the same financial allowance as other non-garda officers for carrying out certain dangerous work.
Mr Justice Senan Allen said the five, who work as forensic accountants and financial crime analysts, had not made out a case in law and he must dismiss the action.
When working for Cab, the five when realising they were required to carry out duties other than those set out in their job description, were entitled to make a pay claim to the Department of Finance, he said. They did so but their claim was not as successful as they had hoped and expected.
They were entitled to take that decision in respect of their pay claim to conciliation and arbitration but did not do so, he said.
The High Court has “no function in adjudicating on pay claims”, he said.
In their action, the five claimed allowances of €19,000 per year over salary are paid to Cab officers seconded from Revenue, the Department of Social Protection, and Customs and Excise. That allowance, they claimed, is to mark the nature of the work, including fieldwork, conducted by the Cab.
The five, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, have worked for Cab for many years. They claimed they routinely carry out their duties, often during anti-social hours, for Cab, including attending search operations, preparing court documents, attending interviews with dangerous criminals, and giving evidence at court cases on behalf of Cab.
They claimed these duties are no different from those of other civil servants working for Cab and they should also be paid the €19,000 a year allowance. In 2008 they made a claim to the Minister for Justice in respect of the allowance but he informed them the Department of Finance was not persuaded by their arguments. However, an allowance of €9,500 per year to the five was sanctioned. In proceedings against the Minister, the five claimed they were discriminated against in respect of the allowance. They sought orders directing the Minister to pay them the allowance paid to the other non-Garda Cab officers plus arrears.
The Minister and State denied the claims. They also pleaded that, in 2011, the five had received an increased allowance of €9,500 per year, which they never formally accepted and the rate payable to the those from the Chief State Solicitor’s office working for Cab.
In his decision, Mr Justice Allen said there was no custom or practise that the bureau’s staff would be paid the same allowance as the non-garda bureau officers. There was no conceivable basis for their arguments the express terms of their contracts concerning pay were other than they were, he said.
There is no general right in law to equal pay for equal work and it makes no difference whether the pay is designated as salary or an allowance or a combination of both, he held. The five were not comparable to the non-garda bureau of Cab, he also said.
Whatever superficial similarity there might be in relation to observing a Cab search, the role of the officers is to conduct a search and the role of the staff is to support them, he said.
He also said that, in their evidence, the five had focused on their outdoor work but it was clear the great majority of their time was spent on indoor work. No evidence was given of what non-garda bureau officers do when not conducting searches, he added.