Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Newspaper reports yesterday again raised the issue of one of the Air Corps whistleblowers who is now facing discharge from his employment. Recent events have focused the mind on the failure of the State with regard to whistleblowers and the consequences for those in charge who fail to act. I am deeply concerned that a whistleblower in the Air Corps is facing dismissal from his job for what appear to be issues directly relating to the very issue he raised with the Minister of State on which he had to blow the whistle.

The charge against him is "generalised anxiety disorder and work-related industrial dispute resulting in chronic ineffectivity". I have raised this issue with the Minister of State many times and I am not satisfied with his response and his actions to date on the matter. He has not dealt effectively with the health and safety issues relating to chemicals at Casement Aerodrome that have affected the members serving there at that time. The review the Minister of State initiated produced no answers. There have been no actions to date and we are in exactly the same position today as we were when I first raised the issue in the Dáil.

The Minister of State has not ordered a full health review of people affected. He has not engaged effectively with those affected. The review is quite farcical because the person tasked with the reviewing the issue told the Minister of State that he did not have the information or the capability to do what was asked.

The issue stands. The individual in question has been summoned before a Defence Forces medical review board for medical issues he feels the State actually caused. His case against the State and the issue he raised with the Minister of State is that he is incredibly sick because of the failure of the State to provide him with a safe workplace. It is incredible to think that he could now be dismissed from his job because of those health issues.

Given all that has gone on regarding this issue, is the Minister of State satisfied that this person has been summoned to appear before a medical review board and may lose his job over the matter? What engagements has the Minister of State had on the issue? What will he do to address the matter?

See this speech in context