State ‘disposed’ to beefing up whistleblower laws

THE Government is “favourably disposed” to strengthening laws protecting whistleblowers, according to Justice Minister Dermot Ahern.

But the Labour Party said, despite promises, such laws have been put off for at least a decade because the Government is “afraid it might offend the powerful vested interests”.

Following remarks by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) that people are afraid to expose wrongdoing in case they are victimised at work, Labour said the Government can no longer avoid legislation on the issue.

Labour’s justice spokesperson Pat Rabbitte said new laws are needed to end the “nod and wink culture that permeates certain sectors of Irish business and public life”.

Mr Ahern said many current laws have “existing provisions to protect people coming forward”. But, he said, “as a general rule the Government would be very favourably disposed to extend that as necessary”.

DPP James Hamilton said a decision was made in 2007 not to roll out a general charter to protect whistleblowers because it might “cut across our system of light regulation”. But he said that charter is now needed.

“Ireland’s reputation as a lightly regulated economy is precisely what has got us into so much trouble in the first place,” Mr Rabbitte said. “If there had been protection for whistleblowers, we may have been spared the worst of the negligence and recklessness that brought down our banking system”.

Labour is to introduce a Private Members’ Bill on whistleblower protection in the Dáil. The party made the same proposal to the Dáil 11 years ago when the Fianna Fáil/Progressive Democrats coalition decided to park the issue with a promise that an Oireachtas committee would examine the issue.

“Nothing happened for almost seven years until 2006, when the government abandoned its pretence and removed the Bill from the Dáil agenda,” said Mr Rabbitte.