John Crown (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am troubled by certain aspects of the emerging story of the intersection between the legislative branch that oversees the Garda and the various bodies that exist to ensure complaints from within and without the Garda can be handled and by the adequacy of the protection that the latter provide for whistleblowers. With this in mind, I will ask a question of the Deputy Leader, herself a distinguished lawyer. Let me state at the outset that I have great respect for the intellect and reforming zeal of the Minister for Justice and Equality, one of the smartest and most able to ever occupy that office. He has brought a real energy for reform, which I commend. However, there is something deeply troubling about the culture of a public service in which the person who is responsible for protecting whistleblowers advises a whistleblower that perhaps the latter should not blow the whistle because of personal consequences for himself or herself.