Agriculture minister’s ex-driver says he faced transfer to dole office if he didn’t take severance deal

Former garda Trevor Shaw (65) had worked as a ministerial driver from 2004-2022 as handling of redundancy was called a ‘fiasco’ by his solicitor

Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue

Stephen Bourke

Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue’s former driver has claimed he was let go from the job in a “sham” redundancy process which left him to choose between the prospect of a job in a dole office or ending 40 years’ service to the State with a severance package.

It happened after the Government moved in 2022 to make driving most ministerial cars a garda job on security grounds – reversing a decision taken to civilianise the position as an austerity measure a decade earlier, the tribunal heard.