Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Some of the 35 recommendations included in the report raise fundamental questions about whether the service is actually hopelessly deficient. The whistleblower here, Dr. Ankur Sharma, was a locum consultant psychiatrist appointed in 2020. He has now resigned from the HSE because he said he received no support and was sidelined after he blew the whistle. Again, serious questions are being raised in our State agencies about the treatment of whistleblowers. This of course raises very serious questions for senior management within the HSE and about the culture there. I welcome the Taoiseach’s commitment to a wider inquiry. I ask him to confirm that this wider inquiry will also include an examination of the treatment of the whistleblower in this case. It is important that this happens and that we change that kind of culture, which is too often about silencing whistleblowers rather than encouraging whistleblowing in State agencies.

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