Consultant who worked at Galway hospital loses unfair dismissal claim
Dr Durcan, who was earning €190,812 a year, had sought up to €233,397 in compensation from the Health Service Executive
A hospital consultant who worked in Galway and earned over €190,000 a year has lost a claim for unfair dismissal after being let go when a permanent doctor was hired to take over his role.
Dr Martin Durcan had sought up to €233,397 in compensation from the Health Service Executive (HSE) after his temporary contract at Sligo University Hospital came to an end in March 2025.
The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) heard that he had previously worked as a consultant physician in the emergency department of a Galway hospital before moving to Sligo in August 2022 to take up a post as a temporary consultant nephrologist.
He was initially placed on a six-month contract that was subsequently replaced with a fixed-purpose contract of indeterminate duration.
Dr Durcan, who was earning €190,812 a year, claimed that he had been terminated without fair procedure, due process, or redundancy when his contract expired.
He told the WRC that he believed the decision to terminate his employment was connected to having raised patient safety concerns, workplace conflict, and filing an earlier complaint under the Terms of Employment (Information) Act.
The hearing was told that the permanent consultant position was advertised by the Public Appointments Service in July 2023. Dr Durcan applied for the role but was unsuccessful, later requesting a formal review of the interview decision after receiving no score sheets.
Dr Durcan gave evidence that he understood his temporary contract would continue until the post was filled permanently, but said dismissal was not inevitable because temporary contracts can expand into permanent arrangements or rolling contracts of indefinite duration.
He told the hearing that he was “annoyed” when he received registered notification in April 2024 confirming that a permanent appointee would take over in March 2025.
He also described friction within the department, including a disagreement in October 2023 with a colleague over weekend patient care responsibilities.
He said communication between medical staff was deficient at times, claiming that during his absence on a training course, another doctor attended to his dialysis patients and provided “scant information” afterwards.
He stated that he had raised issues regarding patient safety and the team’s structure with the clinical director.
The HSE denied unfair dismissal, arguing that Dr Durcan’s employment had always been clearly communicated as temporary. It said the position was tied to a specified purpose, which ceased when the permanent appointee started work.
The health service noted that there were never any performance or conduct issues alleged against Dr Durcan.
In her decision, WRC adjudication officer Máire Mulcahy rejected the suggestion that the contract’s conclusion was improper, finding that the genuine cessation of a specified-purpose role constituted substantial grounds for dismissal.
Addressing the absence of an internal appeal process, the adjudication officer said an employer is only bound to provide full fair procedures where a dismissal involves allegations of misconduct or incapability, rather than the natural end of a fixed purpose.
Finding that neither misconduct nor poor performance had played any role in the termination, Ms Mulcahy ruled that the complaint under the Unfair Dismissals Act was not well founded.