A GOVERNMENT TD has called for an inquiry over the dismissal of whistleblower Louise Bayliss, who lost her job weeks after raising concerns about the treatment of patients at St Brendan’s Hospital in Grangegorman, Dublin.
Fine Gael’s Derek Keating said Bayliss should be invited to speak to the Oireachtas committee on Health and Children, of which he is a member.
“I believe the inquiry I’ve called for should start in the Oireachtas,” he told RTÉ’s This Week, adding that Bayliss “must be reinstated” to her position.
Labour’s Joe Costello has also raised concerns over the dismissal of Bayliss, who was employed by the Irish Advocacy Network – funded by the HSE – as an advocate for mental health patients in the Dublin area.
Before Christmas, Bayliss drew media attention to the closure of an open unit at St Brendan’s Hospital – meaning that patients there would spend Christmas in a secure unit, whose other residents require much tighter controls.
It emerged this week on RTÉ’s Liveline that she had been dismissed from her post three months into a six-month contract.
Joe Costello said: “Louise’s contract is paid for by the HSE using taxpayers money, and the HSE should ensure that if her dismissal was linked to whistle blowing on patients care, she should be reinstated.”
The Irish Advocacy Network could not be reached for comment by TheJournal.ie. However, in a statement provided to This Week the network said any suggestion that Bayliss had been dismissed over her contact with the media was “completely unfounded”.
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