WRC had 'no jurisdiction' to rule on naval service age discrimination complaint

The LE Samuel Beckett. The Defence Forces is exempt in legislation from a complaint on age discrimination grounds, says the WRC. Picture: Larry Cummins

A man in his late 40s whose application to join the navy was not considered because of his age took an age discrimination complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) to make “a strong moral point”.

The WRC said however, that the Defence Forces is exempt in legislation from a complaint on age discrimination grounds and as a result, it had no jurisdiction to issue a ruling on the matter.

The complainant, Gregory Irwin, had sought an adjudication from the WRC after his application to join the navy in October 2020 was not considered.

Mr Irwin, who was 47 at the time, applied for the role of radio and radar technician within the Irish Naval Service.

But the navy would not not accept his application because the age limit for the role was 27 years.

Mr Irwin claimed that he was discriminated against on the grounds of age.

In his submissions to the WRC, he said he was a very strong candidate for the job, had the required technical skills and considered himself to be physically fit.

He said he told the naval service in correspondence that he was more than willing to participate in any interviews, medicals and fitness assessments as deemed necessary.

He told the WRC that he found it “unacceptable and morally wrong” that the Defence Forces can “blatantly refuse an otherwise ideal candidate on the basis of age alone”.

He pointed out that other State-funded organisations do not have any upper age limit at all, even though they are often roles that are physically and mentally demanding, for example, the National Ambulance Service and the retained fire service.

But the Defence Forces pointed out that Section 37(5) of the Employment Equality Act, 1998 (as amended) provides a full exemption to the Defence Forces from an age-related complaint.

Mr Irwin said he did not dispute the legal arguments but he wished to make “a strong moral point”.

In a decision published online, WRC adjudication officer, Thomas O’Driscoll, considered the merits of this case, he cited previous case law, and he took into account the "complete exemption” issue before finding that he does not have jurisdiction to hear this particular complaint.

The Naval Service has been struggling with an under-staffing crisis in recent years.