Galway security firm ordered to pay €14,700 to worker who was sacked after raising safety concerns
The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) found that protected disclosures made by Christopher McDonagh had been the principal reason for his dismissal
A Galway security company has been ordered to pay €14,700 in compensation to an employee who was sacked after making a number of protected disclosures about safety concerns at an IPAS centre.
You’re Secure Solutions Limited, which is based in Parkmore, was found to have unfairly dismissed and penalised security guard Christopher McDonagh in a decision issued by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).
He had started work with the firm in June 2023, and had been deployed at locations including the Quayside Shopping Centre and the Ballisodare IPAS Centre in Sligo during his employment, which was terminated in April 2025.
An adjudication hearing of the WRC was told that Mr McDonagh was notified of his dismissal in a letter that cited a number of concerns, including a serious allegation that he had entered a female IPAS resident’s apartment unaccompanied without a body camera.
Managing director of You’re Secure Solutions Ltd, James Barrett, gave evidence that the security guard had failed to engage with management, restricted his availability, failed to complete paperwork, and breached procedure by entering a resident’s apartment without authorisation.
The company argued that dismissal had been a reasonable and proportionate response in the interests of safeguarding residents and staff.
Mr McDonagh denied the allegations, claiming that entering IPAS apartments unaccompanied had been his ordinary practice until he received instructions to the contrary.
He told the WRC that he had complied with instructions regarding the use of body cameras as soon as he received a text message outlining this policy.
He claimed that his dismissal had been directly linked to numerous complaints and protected disclosures that he had made between September 2024 and March 2025 concerning inadequate security cover, fire-safety obligations, and vetting procedures.
In his decision, WRC adjudication officer Breffni O’Neill found that the dismissal had been procedurally flawed, noting that the employer conducted no investigation prior to the termination, and held no disciplinary hearing.
It had also failed to present any contemporaneous evidence, CCTV records, or witness statements to substantiate the allegation that Mr McDonagh had entered an IPAS resident’s apartment.
Mr O’Neill said an allegation supported only by the hearsay account of a decisionmaker did not amount to credible evidence of gross misconduct.
He found that the protected disclosures had been the principal reason for Mr McDonagh’s dismissal, constituting penalisation under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, the Unfair Dismissals Acts, and the Protected Disclosures Act 2014.
The adjudication officer awarded €13,300 to Mr McDonagh for actual financial loss, which he reduced by 50% due to the worker’s limited mitigation efforts and the employer’s unreasonable conduct.
He also awarded €700 for prospective loss and €700 for a breach regarding written terms of employment. An additional €500 was awarded under the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 for failure to compensate Sunday working, bringing the total compensation to €14,700.