Sir, – Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin has promised Ireland will have “world-class” protections for whistleblowers by Christmas. The main objective he said was to ensure “the protection of workers in all sectors of the economy both public and private against reprisals in circumstances where they make a disclosure of information relating to wrongdoing which comes to their attention in the workplace”.
Might I suggest he discusses his proposed legislation with the HSE, which has recently produced a draft contract for the provision of services by GPs for children aged under six. This document contains a clause which states that the GP “shall not do anything to prejudice the name or reputation of the HSE”. Failure to comply with the terms and conditions of the agreement can lead to the termination of the contract. – Yours, etc,
REGGIE SPELMAN,
Health Centre,
Bridgetown,
Co Wexford.