The whistleblower at the centre of a series of protected disclosures at the Department of Health has said a public inquiry is needed into the State's denial of allowance payments to people with disabilities in residential care.
Shane Corr said nothing less than a public inquiry will suffice.
"It should take the format of a public inquiry. We need an advocate for these people, the most vulnerable people in the State, who often have no capacity to make a decision on their own," Mr Corr told Prime Time.
Mr Corr has now confirmed that, in an email sent to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in December 2019, he specifically raised the issue of people in care being denied their Disabled Person’s Maintenance Allowance.
In the email to Mr Varadkar, who was Taoiseach at the time, Mr Corr wrote: "The state hid from ten thousand disabled people (and their families) liabilities estimated in the range of €230m to €580m, plus interests and costs. These amounts were in respect of payments due to Disabled Persons."
Responding to Mr Corr’s claims, a spokesperson for Mr Varadkar confirmed tonight that the Taoiseach’s office did receive the correspondence from the whistleblower.
In a statement, the spokesperson said: "As the matter related to correspondence to the PAC, and the PAC had already been contacted by Mr Corr, the correspondence was acknowledged and forwarded to the Department of Public Expenditure, which is the line Department for the PAC, in accordance with standard practice."
It went on: "Mr Corr was informed of this by reply on January 20th 2020. The matter was not brought to the attention of the Taoiseach."
Mr Corr said a culture of protecting the state, rather than vulnerable people, was evident in the Department of Health.
He said: "You have to consider the people you're serving, sometimes above the wishes of the government. And, in this case, there was clear liabilities."
Asked if he felt vindicated by Mr Varadkar’s comment that the State "does not have a leg to stand on" over its decision to withhold the payments, Mr Corr said he would feel vindicated when the Government makes amends with these people.
Referencing his 2019 email to the Taoiseach, Mr Corr said not much had happened since then.
"That's three years ago. An opportunity has been lost in the meantime to make amends with these people. So when these people see their day and see their money back, I'll be happy."
Mr Corr is suspended on full pay from the Department of Health, something which happened following protected disclosures made to a national newspaper last year.
"A lot of people find it very odd," he said.
"The Department would rather me sitting at home doing nothing and paying me, rather than have me inside the department and whistleblowing."
Mr Corr told Prime Time that he did not regret blowing the whistle.
"I will do it again," he said.
"Very soon."
