The President of the High Court, Mr Justice Morris, yesterday rejected a claim by a retired schoolteacher that she was entitled to a full pension.
However, he recommended that the Minister for Education should favourably consider making an ex gratia payment to her in recognition of her long years of service.
Ms Anne Clare, of Valentia Road, Drumcondra, was employed in the Civil Service until 1964, when she became a secondary teacher. She retired in 1987 and, she claimed, had a total of 47 years' pensionable service.
Mr Justice Morris, in a reserved judgment, said that Ms Clare was a number of days, probably 103, short of a full pension. She had sought an order that her pension should be computed on the basis of her non-teaching experience in the Civil Service, together with her career as a secondary teacher.
The judge said that he was satisfied that Ms Clare was not entitled to have her non-teaching experience in the Civil Service taken into account.
Mr Justice Morris said it seemed to him that Ms Clare was a woman who had given honourable and diligent service over a long number of years. Her demands were modest.
"I feel that by making an ex gratia payment to her there is no danger that a floodgate would open or that an unsatisfactory precedent would be set," the judge said. "I recommend to the Minister that favourable consideration be given to making an ex gratia payment to Ms Clare in recognition of her long years of service. This can be done without admission of liability as a special case."