Whistleblowers - Brave acts deserve protection

For decades, the whistleblower within Irish society has been vital in uncovering misbehaviour in institutions as varied as the Catholic Church, the Oireachtas, the banks and the Garda Siochána.

The latest example concerns GoSafe, Ireland’s privately run speed detection operation. In a report on RTÉ’s Prime Time, a former GoSafe employee claimed that a number of motorists were wrongly fined after he advised management that he had been unable to set up his detection equipment properly.

The whistleblower said he only discovered that the infringements had been processed through the courts when he was called to appear as a witness in a speeding case against one of the motorists involved.