FORMER infrastructure minister Chris Hazzard told an employment tribunal yesterday that a woman claiming he had discriminated against her had provided "not one shred of evidence".
The Sinn Féin politician told the hearing that he "totally refuted" the allegation by Geraldine Donaghy, who has accused him of discriminating against her in the final pool of applicants to the board of of Warrenpoint Harbour Authority.
Mr Hazzard, who gave three hours of evidence, told the tribunal he made two appointments to the board "based on the grounds of merit".
When asked if he had treated Ms Donaghy "less favourably because she was a woman", he said: "No absolutely not."
Ms Donaghy and Bob McCann were replaced as non-executive directors on the board in October 2016 following a public appointment process run by the Department for Infrastructure, with the final choice made by Mr Hazzard.
The tribunal heard earlier this week that Ms Donaghy was the only woman who made it onto the final six names forwarded to the minister for consideration.
Ms Donaghy is taking the employment tribunal case alleging discrimination after she failed to be selected, with Deep Sagar and Richard Johnston appointed.
But Mr Hazzard told the hearing he had based his decision on the applicants with the "best skills to do the job".
"I think to set it out, I, as a democratically elected minister, wanted to play a role in this appointment," he said.
"I wanted to be involved in the process, I didn't want it to just be a rubber-stamping process.
"It was my role as minister in accordance with the guidelines of ministerial choice and in connection with the guidelines of merit of principle, I can select the two candidates that I felt had the best skills to do the job.
"I could only make my choice based on the grounds of merit."
The former minister, now an MP for South Down, said the "applicant summary was the only piece of evidence I had before me", which he said he believed was "suffice to make my decision".
"The role specification and criteria clearly set out the sought after skills and the challenges that may have to be overcome so I had a good understanding of what I was looking for," he said.
"I quickly identified three or four candidates that I felt were the stand-out candidates.
"Looking at the applicant summaries in more detail, I was struck by one applicant's background, career history and knowledge in economic matters."
When asked by Ms Donaghy if he believed a "diverse board" should be appointed, Mr Hazzard said it was "desirable".
"It would have been unlawful if I had that in my mind when I was making the decision, I have to base it on skill set," he said.
"Employment law forbids me if I base it on making it diverse."
Mr Hazzard told the hearing he had placed Ms Donaghy on a reserve list for the post, praising her "past experience in leadership and communication".
"I was under no obligation to create a reserve list, by selecting you (Ms Donaghy) for the reserve list, I was acknowledging your skill set."
But he denied her claims of discrimination, telling Ms Donaghy "you have provided me with not one shred of evidence today of the serious accusation you have levelled against me".
"I totally refute what has been alleged".
When asked if he had treated Ms Donaghy "less favourably because she was a woman", he added: "No absolutely not, quite the opposite".
