Courts / Ireland / Report

Garda analyst alleges "continuing penalisation" for exposing errors in homicide data

Summary

Lois West, a former deputy head of the Garda Analytics Service, claims she has suffered ongoing penalisation after exposing statistical errors in Garda homicide data in 2018. She alleges that her salary of €98,000 a year was lost and she was forced to take sick leave in December 2020 because of the force's alleged wrongdoing. West has filed statutory complaints under the Protected Disclosures Act 2014, the Health, Safety and Welfare at Work Act 2005, and the Payment of Wages Act, naming the Garda Commissioner, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, and the government. In a preliminary hearing, her barrister, David Byrnes BL, argued that the Minister for Public Expenditure held ultimate responsibility for West's employment conditions as a civil servant. Byrnes also sought a data‑subject access request for West's personnel file and other documents related to her complaints and the review of homicides.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Garda analyst alleges "continuing penalisation" for exposing errors in homicide data. Procedural stage: charge_or_pretrial

When:

• December 2020 Hearing Or Sentence
• February 2024 Other
• 2016 and 2017 Incident
• 2023-12-08 Publication

Why: At a preliminary hearing today, David Byrnes BL said Ms West had gone from earning a €98,000-a-year salary to "no income" because she had been forced to take sick leave in December 2020 "as a result of what we say is the wrongdoing in this matter". CNI source report

Topics

Stage Charge Or Pretrial

Read the original CNI report