Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

Sinn Féin fully supports this motion from the Labour Party. There are many cases where information which is in the public interest is not revealed because individual workers justifiably fear penalisation by their employer in the absence of measures to protect them if they make such disclosures. Those workers who come forward despite the lack of protection must be commended.

The enactment of legislation to protect employees and others who blow the whistle on illegal or other unacceptable practices is long overdue. We have seen enough cases where the absence of such legislation allowed illegal and unacceptable practices to continue unchecked. Corruption and overcharging in the banking sector and the activities of Michael Neary and others at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda are among the most notorious examples.

All parties in the House at least have been agreed on this matter. As has been pointed out, the Government accepted a Labour Party Bill during the previous Dáil and Committee Stage of the Bill was due to be discussed by the Select Committee on Enterprise and Small Business. Since then no progress has been made on the legislation. This is unacceptable and no credible explanation for the unwarranted delay has been given. Excuses from the Government that the delay in bringing forward this Bill is due to difficulties of applying such legislation to multinationals simply does not wash. Multinationals are subject to such legislation in many other jurisdictions.

In other states whistleblowers have played a vital role in ensuring the public interest is upheld. I am thinking, for example of the case of whistle-blowers in the tobacco industry such as Jeffrey Wigand, the tobacco executive who revealed that his former employer knew exactly how addictive and lethal cigarettes were. His revelations eventually led to the tobacco industry's $246 billion litigation settlement.

Whistleblower protection legislation is a key tool in the protection of public health and safety and in the protection of the environment. Its importance is magnified by the fact that at present we have an under-resourced Health and Safety Authority. The example of the whistle-blower in the tobacco industry is important. The enactment of such legislation would ensure that employees of companies in the food and drug sectors would come forward where they have evidence that there is a threat to public health.

There is no doubt that in the case of the tobacco industry those in charge made a deliberate calculation not to face the financial implications of properly informing the public on the dangers of tobacco. Who is to say that this is not being repeated in the pharmaceutical sector or in the processed food sector where there is increased evidence that additives being used pose a danger to human health? We must facilitate workers in these and other sectors, including the public sector, to come forward where they have information which is in the public interest.

It was mentioned during last night's debate that the Irish Nurses Organisation, the Irish Bank Officials Association and the Irish Airline Pilots Association, among others, have called for comprehensive statutory protection for employees who blow the whistle on significant illegal and unacceptable practices. The fact that the Irish Airline Pilots Association has made such a call is worth noting. Ryanair, a so-called low cost airline, which refuses to recognise trade unions, was recently the subject of a television documentary which revealed dangerous practices and poor treatment of workers. The workers at such airlines, particularly where they are denied the right to be represented by a trade union, have genuine fears about coming forward to report unacceptable practices that pose a serious danger to members of the public travelling with that airline.

Sinn Féin fully supports the demand in the motion that the select committee begin consideration of this Bill as its next immediate item of business.

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