As reported in the Sunday Times yesterday, a Garda who blew the whistle on senior officers' practice of erasing motorists penalty points is quitting the force.
It is understood that he has been on work related Stress leave since 1st March and has tendered his resignation to Garda Headquarters with a view to finishing up on the 1st May.
The paper reports that he is leaving because his position is "untenable in the organisation", and has been humiliated since being told in December not to access the Garda Pulse system without the supervision of a senior officer. In the resignation the officer states that "I was enjoying my job and had no intention of going before this, but I've lifted the lid on something that was seen as a perk of the job, and that's caused havoc. I'll have to get another job but what employer will want to take on a whistleblower?"
The claim centers around over 50,000 penalty points that were extinguished over 4 years up until June 2012, and possibly resulting in €4 million in lost revenue to the state.
Ireland currently has a very fragmented level of legislation to protect whistleblowers, with no one definitive piece of legislation in place as yet, but with certain acts including provisions for protected disclosures only in certain industries (Currently 16 Acts of the Oireachtas hold provisions for whistleblowing examples include The Health Act 2007, the Employment Permits Act 2006, Protections for Persons Reporting Child Abuse Act 1998)
Currently the Protected Disclosure In the Public Interest Bill 2012 is working its way through the Oireachtas, and this will provide an all-encompassing Act relating to whistleblowers and protection for from reprisal.
As the above case outlines this legislation is needed soon to protect such workers from reprisal or the feeling that their positions are untenable leading to resignations.
