Janette O’Hagan
THE woman who repeatedly tried to raise the alarm about the RHI scandal has said she has been “dismayed and disgusted” to see how the civil service is still ignoring whistleblowers so long after she was assured that would never happen again.
Janette O’Hagan tried again and again to warn civil servants about the cash for ash scandal but was dismissed by officials who she said assured her that people would not behave as she had seen with her own eyes. Some of the civil servants who dismissed her concerns were later promoted.
Ms O’Hagan, who runs Antrim-based firm heatboss, which makes heating controls to allow businesses to save money on their energy bills, gave evidence to the RHI Inquiry but has rarely spoken about her ordeal, preferring to stay out of the limelight.
However, last night she told the Belfast Telegraph of how she had followed the treatment of Department of Agriculture vet Tamara Bronckaers — who was driven out of her job for blowing the whistle on animal suffering and potential fraud — and was “so disheartened, dismayed and disgusted that she has been so appallingly treated”.
She said: “I deeply admire and strongly empathise with Dr Bronckaers who was just trying to do the right thing and do her job well, in stark contrast, it would seem, to some of those around her.
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