Mr. Séamus Clarke:

I can speak about the reliefs available to somebody who has been dismissed from his or her job. As it stands, the cap is up to five years of financial remuneration under the unfair dismissals legislation. It is greater than the normal case, which is two years of financial remuneration.

That is remuneration that is capable of being recouped.

In a difficult environment where somebody is a whistleblower, there may not be a prospect of him or her being reinstated in the job. If the employer has created a situation whereby that person has been dismissed, that has not been a supportive environment for him or her to be working in. I do not think the Workplace Relations Commission would be likely to impose reinstatement in circumstances where, effectively, the employer does not want the person back. It is capped, therefore, at the five years' remuneration. Moreover, the Workplace Relations Commission is probably not well equipped to deal with the other sequelae that follow from being a whistleblower, such as the mental hardship that occurs. It is just not really equipped to deal with those other facilities.

Nevertheless, the Deputy raises a good point. This legislation does not really deal with that issue; it just keeps it in place. There is five years' remuneration, under the unfair dismissals legislation, and that has not been changed or altered by the general scheme.