The Irish High Court has rejected an application for judicial review of a decision taken to dismiss a woman from a position obtained through the Tús Community Work Placement Initiative (the Scheme) which led to the loss of her Jobseeker’s Allowance.
The judgment, delivered by Mr. Justice Binchy, relied upon the fact that the decision was taken by a private partnership operating the Scheme on behalf of the Department of Social Protection (DSP) and was therefore a matter of private law. Despite the role of the DSP in establishing and funding the Scheme, it had no involvement in its administration and so the matter was deemed to be outside the public domain.
The applicant in the matter, Ms. Tonya Martin, had been randomly selected for the Tús Scheme in 2015 and had entered into an eight-month contract with the Tolka Area Partnership. She was dismissed from the Scheme in March, however, after a disciplinary hearing found she had engaged in misconduct. Her file was then returned to the DSP for review where it was found that, as a result, she should be disqualified from receiving Jobseeker’s Allowance for a period of nine weeks.
The applicant claimed that the disciplinary proceedings lacked fair procedures as she had been barred from attending the hearing after arriving five minutes late and was then given insufficient time to appeal the hearing’s findings. The applicant also submitted that these breaches of fair procedure were inextricably linked to the sanctions imposed upon her by the DSP and that the DSP was obliged to see that its agent, the Partnership, carry out the Scheme in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Scheme which set out that fair procedures should be adhered to in disciplinary matters.
The respondent argued that the Minister was not responsible for the decision of the Partnership and that the role of the DSP in relation to the implementation of the Scheme is limited to the provision of funding to the implementation body. This argument was accepted by Mr. Justice Binchy with particular reference to the decision in Patrick O’Donnell v Tipperary (South Riding) County Council which sets out criteria for whether a decision can be considered to be in the public domain and can therefore be subject to judicial review. As the DSP had no role in the everyday operation of the Scheme, the decision of the Partnership was deemed to be a “private law dispute… not amenable to judicial review”.
The proceedings were dismissed with no findings as to whether the procedures raised by the applicant were unfair.
Click here for the judgment in Tonya Martin v Minister for Social Protection.