Treatment of whistleblowers may have put senior gardaí in breach of law

Transparency International has written to the Garda Commissioner suggesting senior management in the force may be in breach of the law over how whistleblowers have been treated.

The anti-corruption body alleges two whistleblowers in the force have been subjected to measures including denial of the right to work and unwarranted stop and search by fellow officers.

The letter refers to the two, who came forward with allegations of malpractice, including the operation of the penalty points system. One, John Wilson, retired last year. The other is a serving sergeant, who, Transparency International’s chief John Devitt said, has been subject to “unwarranted formal and informal sanctions by colleagues and Garda management”. As reported in yesterday’s Irish Examiner, both whistleblowers had disciplinary action taken separately against them after they came forward with allegations of malpractice.

The serving officer is due to give evidence before the Public Accounts Committee on Thursday in relation to monies lost through abuse of the penalty points system.

Mr Devitt outlined measures to which he says the officers were subjected:

nDenial of access to the Pulse system unless supervised or authorised by a senior officer, thus denying them their right to work;

* Denial of future access to the confidential recipient (to whom individuals can in confidence pass on claims of malpractice or corruption involving other gardaí) without prior authorisation;

* Unannounced visits by gardaí to the family home of one whistleblower;

* Unwarranted stop and search of one of the whistleblowers while on duty;

* Repeated and unsolicited calls to a whistleblower’s mobile while on leave by senior gardaí;

* False allegations publicly levelled at the whistleblowers that their reports to the confidential recipient were made anonymously, “and that therefore they were made unlawfully”.

Mr Devitt said all this could amount to an offence under legislation. “You will be aware that section 20 of the Criminal Justice Act 2011 provides that an employer shall not penalise or threaten penalisation against an employee, or cause or permit any other person to penalise or threaten penalisation against an employee for making a disclosure with respect to suspected breaches of a scheduled offence...

“Section 21(2) also provides that an employer who contravenes section 20 shall be guilty of an offence.”

The letter seeks a number of corrective measures be taken by the commissioner, including that “a statement be made correcting the false allegation that the Garda whistleblowers filed their report anonymously”.

The Garda Press Office confirmed the commissioner had received the letter.