Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

In July, I asked the Minister of State the reason the Air Corps was proceeding with attempts to medically dismiss a serving Air Corps health and safety whistleblower, whom the Minister of State had met shortly before, in direct contravention of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014. In reply the Minister of State stated:

The Deputy will appreciate that it would be inappropriate of me to comment on individual personnel cases. However, I can assure the Deputy that the Defence Forces and my Department are fully committed to compliance with the requirements of the Protected Disclosures Act, 2014, and to the protections contained in that Act.

The articles in the Irish Examineryesterday and today show a clear breach of the spirit and the letter of those protected disclosures. As Deputy Lisa Chambers has outlined, the man in question appeared before a medical hearing this morning in St. Bricin's Military Hospital for the very reason he met the Minister of State - that there was something rotten in the Air Corps in terms of health and safety, as he and other whistleblowers had outlined. His medical condition and others are directly related to mass exposure to highly toxic and carcinogenic chemicals.

What steps has the Minister of State taken to ensure the Defence Forces as a whole, and therefore those involved in this individual case, understand that they must fully comply with the Protected Disclosures Act 2014?

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