WHISTLEBLOWERS HAVE TODAY called for the State to introduce free legal aid, as Independent Ireland brought a motion to the Dáil calling for people who blow the whistle on wrongdoing to have greater protections.

Raising the motion in the Dáil this morning, Independent Ireland TD Richard O’Donoghue called for whistleblowers to, among other things, be given access to free legal aid and to be compensated when they suffer detriment through State inaction or misuse of power. 

Watching on from the visitors’ gallery was garda whistleblower Maurice McCabe, who later joined Independent Ireland TDs and a number of other high-profile whistleblowers at a press conference in Buswells Hotel. 

Speaking at the press conference, Tusla whistleblower Ciarán Kenneally – who went four months without pay while his concerns about procurement issues at the child and family agency were being investigated – said one of the core areas of the existing legislation that the Government could improve on was in relation to legal aid. 

“If we had access to legal aid, as the State does, to prosecute us, our stories might be a bit different today,” he said.

Kenneally, who has described himself as an ‘accidental whistleblower’, said that in his own case, he was told he could bring a witness to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), who could be a solicitor, but that he would have to pay for it out of his own pocket.

“The State has huge coffers and huge access to legal [assistance], it’s endless. I mean, when I went to my Workplace Relations Commission, there were three solicitors and two barristers for [Tusla]. I arrived in on my own, my sister was late.

“I was so nervous, I picked up the newspaper and read it upside down.

“So it’s the intimidation, it’s the fear. You’re completely up against an institution, and we’re completely thrown out on our own, we’re enemies of the State.”

Another whistleblower, Yvonne O’Rourke, a member of the Women of Honour group who have blown the whistle on sexual and gender-based abuse in the Defence Forces, also backed the calls for the introduction of legal aid.

O’Rourke was sexually assaulted by a superior in the Defence Forces while on a night out.  In 2020, the WRC ordered the Minister for Defence to pay €117,814 in compensation to her after finding she was a victim of gender discrimination arising from “an unacceptable systematic failure” in the Defence Forces. 

Speaking today, O’Rourke recalled how, when she arrived at her WRC case with her sister for support, the “first thing out of one of the barristers’ mouths was: ‘Does that girl to the right of her need to be with her?’”

Women of Honour (LtoR) Yvonne O'Rourke, Diane Byrne, Honor Murphy and Roslyn O Callaghan pictured outside Government Buildings. 2023. Rollingnews.ie Rollingnews.ie

Independent Ireland TD Richard O’Donoghue told the Dáil today that it is a “national disgrace” how whistleblowers are treated.

“Ireland claims to protect whistleblowers, but what we actually do is destroy them…We bring laws and pat ourselves on the back and then the State turns around and crushes the very people who tried to protect us,” he said.

In response to the motion brought forward by Independent Ireland, the Government put down a counter-motion which noted that a review of existing legislation is due to take place in 2027.

Representing the Government today in the Dáil, junior minister in the Department of Agriculture, Michael Healy-Rae said the Government was opposing Independent Ireland’s suggestions because of “technical flaws”.

Sinn Féin TD Mairéad Farrell told the Dáil that the Government response to the Independent Ireland motion was “outrageous” and that the whistleblowers present in the public gallery were being “gaslit” by Healy-Rae, who argued that one of the reasons the recommendations would not be acted on was because Independent Ireland put them forward as a motion, rather than a Bill.

“To say it is not a Bill and, therefore, he cannot back it is nonsense. Deputy Buckley and I introduced a Bill four years ago and it was not acted on.

“Also, this motion has recommendations in it. Then there is talk about the EU review. The whole reason for the changes in the whistleblower legislation the last time was the transposition of the EU directive. What came out of it from Government was weak. That is why we are here,” she said.

Labour TD Ged Nash, who was involved in the introduction of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 (the existing legislation relevant to whistleblowers), said today that while it intends to protect whistleblowers from dismissal and penalisation, it has “too often fallen short of those ambitions”.

“Too many people have been dragged through the mire and have been destroyed,” Nash said. 

Nash argued that new legislation is not needed and that the existing legislation just needs to be properly implemented and enforced.

Meanwhile, Social Democrats TD Cian O’Callaghan commended the whistleblowers in the public gallery and said their “bravery and courage should be supported by all of us”.

“They act in the public interest, and their role in democracy is incredibly important,” he said. 

He argued that there are a number of things that can be done now to improve the situation for whistleblowers. For example, extending legal aid to whistleblowers.

“That is envisaged in the EU whistleblowing directive. It has not been done. We need to be fully compliant with the directive. While there is free legal advice and counselling available, the lack of free legal aid is a major flaw. It should be brought in straight away,” he said.

O’Callaghan also said regulatory gaps identified by the Office of Protected Disclosures Commission need to be urgently addressed. These include gaps in private congregated residential settings, home support services, non-professionals working in GP and dental practices and accommodation centres for people seeking international protection.  

Meanwhile, Fianna Fáil TD and leass-ceann comhairle John McGuinness told the Dáil that whistleblowers were “heroes” and if we only listened to them, the State would be saved “fortunes”.