A RETIRED Garda sergeant has won a 10-year legal battle over expenses incurred years ago moving to a new posting on the Aran Islands. Yesterday he was awarded €31,000 removal expenses against the State.
Mr Justice Matthew Deery said Christopher Joyce had embraced his work on the islands at a time when other gardaí, once appointed, spent most of their time trying to extricate themselves.
The Circuit Court president said Mr Joyce (60) was entitled to be reimbursed by the State for the costs associated with his transfer from his old sub-district in Ballina, Co Mayo, to Kilronan on Inishmore.
He said Mr Joyce had reached a 10-year impasse with the Garda authorities and the Department of Justice over his expenses due to a guideline regulation suggesting a member of the force should live within a 15-mile radius of his station.
Mr Justice Deery said that despite the 15-mile limit having been dropped from new Garda guidelines introduced in 1998, the authorities had insisted on restricting removal expenses payouts to within the 15-mile limit.
Cliona Kimber had told the court that Sgt Joyce had experienced great difficulty in buying a site or a house on Inishmore after being transferred from Ballina in 2000.
He opted for moving house to his current home in Salthill, Co Galway, which was just over 27 miles from the Kilronan Garda station, and commuting by ferry or air travel.
Ms Kimber said the fact that there was more than 12 miles of sea between her client’s new Salthill home and Inishmore had not been taken into consideration by the authorities when holding to the old 15-mile limit relating to payment of his removal expenses.
Following a two-year search between 2000 and 2002 for a home on the island, Mr Joyce had sold his Ballina home and had bought the house in Salthill where he still lived. He claimed €14,000 house sale expenses and €17,000 house purchase expenses.
Mr Justice Deery, in a reserved judgment, said Mr Joyce was entitled to recover the expenses involved in the move of home and awarded him a decree for €31,000 against the Garda Commissioner and the Minister for Justice.
He granted a stay pending consideration of an appeal.