Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This has been a very interesting process for us all. We will all remember what those people who came before our committee had to say with their own lived and personal experiences and how it had impacted them. There is strengthening now in the making of protected disclosures and I and my colleague, Deputy Buckley, have also tabled amendments to the Bill. We are happy to do anything that can strengthen and benefit those people who are going forward and making protected disclosures but we also have to think of those who have made previous protected disclosures and who have suffered greatly as a result. We cannot have a situation where people are left behind and we need to ensure that there are always greater protections for whistleblowers because without whistleblowers in the past, there would have been many horrific situations that we would not have been aware of. We need to commend all those people who have come forward.