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

My main concluding remark is on something that has been the theme of today's meeting and all of our discussions, that is, the great sense of gratitude many members of the committee have for those people who have blown the whistle and done such really great service to the people and to the State. Deputy Buckley and I strongly believe that everything that can be done to protect future whistleblowers, and, as has been discussed here today, those who have previously come forward, must be done and that they must be given all possible protection. There is something very strange in people being penalised and given a difficult time for doing something that is in the public interest rather than in their own interest. There are a lot of positives in this Bill. We will discuss further amendments on Report Stage on things the Minister discussed earlier. My main point is that we owe a debt of gratitude to those who have blown the whistle.