A Department of Health employee who made a number of protected disclosures said he hopes his employer will view him as a whistleblower.
Shane Corr, an auditor with the finance division, has been suspended from his role since May of last year.
The move came after he released recordings of meetings in relation to the Health Service Executive's finances.
Mr Corr today attended a disciplinary hearing with officials from the Department of Health, which took place at the Civil Service Employee Assistance Service in Dublin.
Speaking as he left the hearing, he said: "I suppose I regard myself as a whistleblower, who made disclosures in terms of the Protective Disclosures Act 2014, and obviously I'd hope that the department will see it that way in due course.
"I believe what I was doing was primarily actually in the department's interest to bring it to them first, which I tried to do, but also later in the public interest when I realised that the department simply wasn't going to listen."
He also made a protected disclosure in May 2020 alleging the department had compiled dossiers on children with disabilities to assist its strategy in court actions.
An independent review by a senior counsel found that the department's actions did not come within the definition of wrongdoing under the Protected Disclosure Act.
More recently, he made revelations relating to nursing home charges.
Mr Corr said he would "hope for protection from the department as a whistleblower who's made protective disclosures to the press".
"I would hope that the department will see me as a whistleblower and as somebody who's tried to improve things at the department and for the public and will come to a decision based on that."
He said he expects to be informed about the outcome of the disciplinary hearing in the coming days.
"I'm expecting to receive minutes of the meeting in the next few days and I believe a decision will be made thereafter," Mr Corr said.
In a statement, the Department of Health said it "does not comment on HR matters relating to individual members of staff".
Read more: The whistleblower exposing the Department of Health's secret dossiers
