Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions Dail Éireann — 2026-09-16 ============================================================ Mary Lou McDonald (SF), Dublin Central Although the programme has not yet aired, certainly the central kernel of the issue has been published by RTÉ. In fact, there is extensive material in the public domain on the core issues - not the detail perhaps but the core issues at play here - so I am surprised that the Taoiseach or somebody around him has not briefed him on that. Be that as it may, the nub of this is simply this. Tonight, the very person, Dr. Donal Corcoran, who was in charge of running the protected disclosures office will tell a story of how he and others experienced and observed consistent undermining of the independence of the office and active interference at the most senior levels, to the extent that he and another colleague were forced to become whistleblowers themselves and when they did that, they too were targeted and penalised. Neither of those two who worked in this office are still in the jobs that they held. As Taoiseach, you need to establish the facts around it. I ask in good faith because I want to know and because we deserve to know----- --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-16/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:48+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-09-16