{"id":480215,"date":"2026-05-12T03:11:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T03:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/480215\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T03:11:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T03:11:11","slug":"whistleblower-initiates-legal-action-against-tusla-says-wrc-agreement-is-void-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/480215\/","title":{"rendered":"Whistleblower initiates legal action against Tusla, says WRC agreement is void \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A whistleblower has sent a legal letter to Tusla<\/a> stating that a Workplace Relations Commission (WRC)<\/a> agreement reached between him and the child and family agency may be void.<\/p>\n

Ciar\u00e1n Kenneally is arguing that relevant information which was not disclosed at the time of the negotiations has come to light since the agreement was reached in late 2019. <\/p>\n

The letter, seen by The Irish Times, said documents Kenneally received via freedom of information requests, subject access requests under General Data Protection Regulation<\/a> (GDPR) legislation and an investigation carried out by the Data Protection Commission (DPC)<\/a> \u201crevealed that Tusla was, at the time of settlement, in possession of significant material information that was not disclosed\u201d.<\/p>\n

The letter, sent by Kevin Winters of KRW Law, said this information included \u201cinternal correspondence confirming unauthorised contact with Mr Kenneally\u2019s therapist, in an attempt to obtain personal and sensitive medical information\u201d and \u201cunauthorised background checks carried out by Tusla management\u201d. The documents also included a financial audit<\/a> identifying \u201cinstances of wrongdoing\u201d at a Tusla centre, according to the letter.<\/p>\n

Kenneally believes the documents support a protected disclosure he made in 2019 which included claims about mismanagement, financial irregularities and bullying. He resigned from his role at a Tusla aftercare service based at Liberty Street House, Cork city, shortly after making the protected disclosure. He settled an unfair dismissal case with Tusla at the WRC in November 2019. The details of the agreement remain confidential. <\/p>\n

Kenneally lodged a complaint with the DPC in 2021, alleging Tusla had unlawfully processed his personal data by carrying out \u201can unauthorised background check\u201d. He also alleged Tusla had \u201cobtained feedback from a counsellor\u201d relating to therapy sessions he attended.<\/p>\n

In January 2026, the DPC found Tusla \u201cfailed to demonstrate a lawful basis<\/a>\u201d under GDPR for contacting Kenneally\u2019s previous employer while he worked for the agency. <\/p>\n

In relation to the therapy sessions, Tusla told the DPC it \u201chad contact with the counselling service provider in order to facilitate payment for the provider\u2019s services, but that feedback was neither sought nor received\u201d. The commission said it could not make a determination regarding this particular claim.<\/p>\n

Last November, Kenneally submitted a second protected disclosure to Tusla, saying another former employee of the agency had contacted him with information which supported his initial disclosure.<\/p>\n

In the legal letter, sent on April 23rd, Winters said Kenneally contends that the WRC agreement \u201cwas entered into in circumstances that were fundamentally flawed, unlawful, and incompatible with Tusla\u2019s duties as a public body\u201d. He asked Tusla to confirm whether it \u201cdisputes the rescission of the agreement\u201d and to \u201cindicate whether it is prepared to enter discussions aimed at resolving this matter lawfully and transparently\u201d.<\/p>\n

Winters told The Irish Times the case \u201cpoints to a troubling pattern where a bona-fide protected disclosure seems to have been met with procedural objections rather than prioritising safeguarding\u201d.<\/p>\n

In a written statement, Winters said the case \u201creflects wider systemic difficulties faced by whistleblowers … where statutory protections under the [Protected Disclosures Act 2014] too often fail to translate into protection for those who have the bravery and temerity to speak out\u201d.<\/p>\n

Tusla has 14 days to reply to the letter. If the matter is not resolved, Kenneally \u201creserves all rights and remedies available to him\u201d including taking legal action, the letter stated.<\/p>\n

A spokesman for Tusla said it is \u201cnot appropriate\u201d for the agency \u201cto comment on matters relating to employment of current or former employees\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cAll concerns raised by staff members are examined and assessed and appropriate actions taken in compliance with the relevant policy, procedures and legislation governing the matter raised,\u201d a statement added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A whistleblower has sent a legal letter to Tusla stating that a Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) agreement reached…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":309579,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[79,7242,18,19,17,8504,81],"class_list":{"0":"post-480215","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-data-protection-commission","10":"tag-eire","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-tusla","14":"tag-workplace-relations-commission"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116559418752916537","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=480215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/309579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=480215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=480215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=480215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}