John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I will take Mr. Kennedy up on that point, and I encourage others to contribute. This proposed Bill is being put forward in the Minister's name, but it was, by and large, written by civil servants. These are the very same civil servants who set out to protect the State at all costs, using taxpayers' money, and to vilify the person making the protected disclosure. In trying to get the best out of this proposed Bill and force open that culture of secrecy, which is a bad culture which is alive and well within the Civil Service and the public service, we have to reach out to people like the witnesses to give us a reasonable steer on how we might address the issues that have confronted us as legislators and those who have made a protected disclosure in the past to give them the best chance to have their case heard. If we do not get the information from outside of these Houses, we are going to be landed with legislation that will be stacked against whistleblowers. We have had whistleblowers before the committee. I have given their names. There are many examples. The biggest example is, of course, Maurice McCabe. Is there anywhere the witnesses can direct us to, or is there anything they can advise us to research, to strengthen this Bill beyond where it is currently to give a better chance to whistleblowers?