POINTING the finger

It seems that people don't like to hear about their neighbours ripping off the welfare system anymore. The Department of Social Welfare have reported a record increase in the number of tip-offs from members of the public about suspected welfare fraud up from 1,044 in 2008 to 5,600 in 2009 (Read here).
If only the same civic spirit existed in the banking sector then the currently long, slow and painful process of investigation into Anglo Irish Bank might be going a bit a quicker.
These are some the issues that may be touched on by Transparency International's seminar next Monday in Dublin on the topic of protecting whistleblowers. Speakers include former AIB auditor Eugene McErlean and Bernadette Sullivan a former nurse at the Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.