Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The vice president of Cork Institute of Technology said the college attempted to engage but that the individual did not engage. That is a lie, quite frankly. This person went to the chair of the board of CIT, the chairman of the audit committee, the vice president of strategy, the head of the school and faculty, the vice president and the registrar. All these approaches occurred in 2012 and 2013 but no action was taken. In August 2017 the person requested to meet the new president. This was refused and the person was not granted a meeting. In June 2017, the person wrote to each member of the board of CIT. This was clearly ignored and was not reflected in the minutes of the board. The vice president said before the Committee of Public Accounts that he accepted that risk management as a methodology within CIT was not well-developed at this stage. At the same meeting, the president stated that serious failures in governance existed.

How can we expect anyone to have confidence in this institution? This is about protecting taxpayers' money. No matter who is in government, it is a case of circling the wagons and throwing the whistleblower under the bus. That is what we are doing: we are throwing someone under the bus and leaving that person with no salary. On the one hand we encourage all people to come forward and tell the truth. That is only so long as they know that when the do the shutters will come down in lightening fashion. Instead of a policy of delay, deny and defend, the Minister of State should do what is right by this person and the taxpayer.

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