by Bernie English
bernie
A BLIND telephonist staged a protest outside Dominick Street employment exchange to highlight his claim that the Department of Social Protection let him go from his job of twenty years without paying him redundancy.
Munchin Kelly worked as relief telephonist at the Dominick Street office, initially under the auspices of the National Council of the Blind and, after the first two years, he was employed by the department of Social Protection.
But two years ago, Mr Kelly, who has been blind since birth, was let go from the job that he loved.
“They told me I couldn’t do emails. They paid me no redundancy money and when I went to a Rights Commissioner and he recommended a settlement of €7,000, they offered me €3,000 which I refused.
“I never let them down once in all the years I worked there. They could ring me any time and I would fill in”.
Mr Kelly chose the time and place of his protest because Social Protection Minister Joan Burton, was in town to officially open the refurbished Intreo offices, which houses the Department offices, FAS and CWS.
With the assistance of Limerick Employment Rights Officer, Frank McDonald, Mr Kelly is planning an appeal of the commissioner’s decision but it will take 92 weeks to come to hearing.
Mr McDonald, who was at hand but not part of the protest, said: “The Minister said she has been made aware of the matter and is looking into it. Minister Jan O’Sullivan had spoken to her on our behalf,”.
A spokesperson for the Department of Social Protection said they never comment on individual cases. But ina statement it added “However, the Department would like to point out that it fully complies with the provisions of the Redundancy Payment Acts 1967 to 2011 with regard to the payment of redundancy to former staff”.
