Dental chief sacked ‘after unauthorised pay rise’

AN Employment Appeals Tribunal has heard that the former secretary-general of the Irish Dental Association, Donal Atkins, was sacked from his €140,000-a-year post last year after he awarded himself an unauthorised pay rise.

Mr Atkins, 63, is seeking compensation by taking a case of unfair dismissal against the association’s decision to terminate his contract after 26 years of service with the organisation.

The inquiry was told that Mr Atkins was dismissed with immediate effect on September 3, 2005, after the dental association’s council found him guilty by a 18-4 vote of serious misconduct and committing a fundamental breach of trust.