Calls for ‘whistleblower’ laws after Neary report

CALLS for criminal prosecutions and a system of redress for victims were chief among the demands of opposition parties yesterday as the Government published the Lourdes hospital inquiry report.

Reacting to the report last night, Fine Gael health spokesman Liam Twomey, meanwhile, criticised the decision of Tánaiste and Health Minister Mary Harney not to introduce whistleblowers’ legislation for health staff.

“It is clear that were it not for the brave actions of a midwife at the hospital in 1998, this practice would not have emerged. This raises the necessity of whistleblowers’ legislation to protect staff within the health services who act on behalf of patients.