Whistleblower complaint in 2018 wasn't treated as protected disclosure 

Waterford Council has been strongly criticised for its handling of a complaint about use of funds and recruitment procedures at Waterford Area Partnership

It is understood the individual, who no longer works at WAP, spoke with a number of senior ranking council officials at the meeting in March 2018. Picture: AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File

Waterford City and County Council has been strongly criticised by Transparency International Ireland for its handling of a complaint made by an alleged whistleblower.

It comes after the local authority chief executive Michael Walsh told the Irish Examiner he met a complainant in 2018 about the Waterford Area Partnership (WAP), but that it was “confirmed” with the employee it was not a protected disclosure.

A Department of Rural and Community Development report recently recommended the partnership be wound up and it is currently the subject of investigations by gardaí and Revenue.

"A meeting was held with an employee of the company following informal contact," Mr Walsh said, "It was not a protected disclosure and this was confirmed at the meeting." 

He added the concerns raised were “predominantly outside of relevance” to the council’s €5.5m contract for social inclusion programmes and jobs with the company.

However, this has been criticised by Transparency chief executive John Devitt, who said senior officials should make further inquiries if contacted about wrongdoings. 

“It doesn’t matter whether an official believes a communication is formal or informal, if it discloses information related to a wrongdoing – especially one defined in the Protected Disclosures Act – it can be treated as a protected disclosure. If the senior official has enough information to make further inquiries, they should do so.”

It is understood the individual, who no longer works at WAP, spoke with a number of senior ranking council officials at the meeting in March 2018 and raised concerns about the use of funds from the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) and recruitment procedures at the wider company. 

Responding to this, Mr Walsh said any concerns raised had already been raised by Government agency Pobal.

The initial claim about the 2018 meeting was made by the chairwoman of the new board at the Waterford Area Partnership. 

Una Dunphy confirmed to the Irish Examiner that the voluntary directors had stood down on Friday after negotiations with the council, on condition that investigations would be supported by Waterford Council and other authorities into the partnership.

Sixteen people are employed at the Waterford Area Partnership through SICAP, including its chief executive, while about another 30 people are employed through other State funding streams.

While repeating the council has “no remit” to examine wider practices at WAP and is confined to whether there is compliance with the SICAP contract, Mr Walsh said the council’s internal audit unit carried out checks in relation to the contract in the second quarter of 2019.

A High Court case in 2019 “makes it clear that a protected disclosure doesn’t have to be labelled as such for it to be considered as such and followed up”, Mr Devitt said. 

He added that a senior local authority official should pass any disclosures to a designated official or the whistleblower should be given the details of the official to make a disclosure.

When Waterford Council's policy on protected disclosures was viewed, it was discovered that the designated officer for receiving protected disclosures listed is an official who retired in 2017. When contacted, a spokesperson said the correct policy existed elsewhere and confirmed the page would be updated.

“Information on how and to whom disclosures should be made must also be made more accessible,” Mr Devitt said. 

"It shouldn’t be left to the potential whistleblower to sift through a lengthy and detailed document and find out who it is they should be talking to.”