Mick Clifford: Lengthy judicial proceedings costing State and its employees 

Public money being spent on legal actions that can persist for years in a system that goes back and forth

Ultimately, irrespective of the legal outcome, a question arises as to whether this is the most cost-efficient way of resolving an industrial relations issue.

For nine years, Robert Cunningham has existed in a suspended form as far as his employment is concerned. 

Cunningham is a prison officer and has not been able to work over that period as a legal employment process wends its way back and forth within the system.