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RETIRED GARDA JOHN Wilson — one of the two whistleblowers on the issue of penalty points — has released a statement in the wake of Justice Minister Alan Shatter’s apology today.
The Minister claimed on 1 October last year that Wilson and his former colleague Maurice McCabe, who is still a serving member of the force, did not cooperate with the O’Mahoney inquiry into the penalty points controversy.
This afternoon he conceded that he was wrong, apologised to the two men, and said it had never been his intention to cause any upset.
Wilson says today’s events have been “a long time coming”…
… but I’m glad that the record has been finally corrected by Minister Shatter about how we reported our concerns about the unlawful termination of tens of thousands of lawfully issued fixed charge penalty notices.
Here’s the rest of Wilson’s statement…
Approximately 10,000 of these lawfully issued notices were unlawfully terminated on a yearly basis by senior Garda officers. These practices have now ceased directly as a result of our complaints.I would like to thank the general public for their support which kept us going over the past year. My family and I also greatly appreciate the support of Clare Daly TD, Mick Wallace TD, Pádraig McLochlainn TD, Luke Ming Flanagan TD, Joan Collins TD, Joe Higgins TD, Mary Lou McDonald TD, and John Devitt from Transparency International Ireland for all their help since the beginning.
I still encourage any prospective Garda whistleblowers reporting malpractice, wrongdoing and corruption within the force to report their concerns to a member of the Oireachtas and seek advice from Transparency International Ireland.
My colleague Sgt Maurice McCabe is still being penalised on a daily basis for reporting malpractice and corruption within the force. The Garda authorities should be proud to have a person of the calibre of Sgt Maurice McCabe as a member of our policing service. And I’m demanding in the public interest that Sgt McCabe has his full rights of access to the Garda PULSE system restored with immediate effect.
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The biggest ‘sh##show’ imaginable. I point the finger fairly and squarely at Simple Simon Harris. The cost is truly astonishing followed closely by incompetence on a stratospheric level. Let us not forget the poor kiddies that are being deprived of the care they deserve, all because of a government run by gimps.
@Padraic O’ Sullivan: Ah yes, Dr Reilly, should be called Little Jack Horner, as he had his thumb in many pies!
@Padraic O’ Sullivan: I’ve never understood why this wasn’t built at the Connolly hospital site in Blanchardstown. An absolute and enduring fiasco from start to eventual finish.
@honey badger: from what I heard it was because the consultants (probably some that signed this letter) wouldn’t move there, I wouldn’t take that as gospel though.
@honey badger: It would have been ideal, on the M50, readily accessible from anywhere, but no, vested interests take precedence!
@honey badger: or maybe in the midlands where it’s central to the whole country
@The next small thing: I have family in there and heard Southside consultants had the final say on it. Made to suit the Blackrock brigade a F the rest of us as per usual. No real surprises there to be honest.
@Andrew Kenny: FG gave the green light to proceed construction in the heart of Dublin City, we all know it should have been built in Blanchardstown, heavy traffic has always been a problem in this part of the city and now it’s going to be much heavier and will cause longer delays for everyone trying to negotiate traffic especially for people living in the area and commuters heading west towards Palmerstown, Lucan, Leixlip, Cellbridge.
@Adam H2022: anyone who thinks medical consultants had ANY say in where hospitals are located has no understanding of how the health system in Ireland works. All decisions like this are made by the department of health and politicians
No need to worry gang… it will be at least another year before this is open..no need to panic
@David Cotter: a complete joke
@Chutes Idiot: you’re optimistic… Wasn’t that hospital moved to a “2030 Project” some days after the November elections? I wish I were wrong though
Great breakdown on the fiasco here:
Shows this disaster is now well known around the World. I’ve also heard Bam might ask for another €853 million, pushing the total cost well past €3 billion.
@David Jordan: This is what happens when Student Union activists are running the government, like getting children to operate a nuclear reactor!
Well of course there’s going to be staff shortages. They’ve built a building. They haven’t built any kind of medical system that anyone in there right mind would want to work in. How any of the staff turn up for work everyday is beyond me. I mean frontline staff that are being ran into the ground day in day out. Having a recruitment embargo on irish nurses whole recruiting them from abroad is just a slap in the face to any junior nurse that was going to enter the system. If they have any sense they will be long gone and god bless them in there lives. The NCH was a ego project for fg.
Exactly where are the staff to treat the kiddies commung from .there is a lack of nurses and Dr’s as it is in ireland due to the extra long hours and awfull pay
@Karen Marten: “awful pay” Doctors!
@Michael Reilly: there are a thousand vacancies for consultants. They won’t return to Ireland while the conditions are so appalling. What has the minister for health to say about all this?
In another 2 years the hospital still won’t be open but the sick kids will be living out there grandparents back garden in a lag cabin
Import the third world, Become the third world!
POTA!
Enough of this debacle now, no point contributing to dialogue on this sad happening for children of this isle, it is what it is let’s wait until the doors are open.
Unless the minister gets the working conditions right for the medical and nursing staff the crisis continues.
Doctors do you real jobs and turn up for work at weekends
have your say