It is more than a year since the bill was settled in one of the country's most well-known whistleblowing cases. Maurice McCabe suffered serious retaliation and a sustained smear campaign for his efforts to speak up about Garda malpractice. April 2019 saw the former sergeant settle proceedings against the State and Tusla, the child and family agency. The final bill was not disclosed, but significant legal costs were likely involved given the 11 sets of High Court proceedings that had to be dealt with.
Last September an RTÉ Investigates programme showed the high price faced by whistleblowers and their families when trying to expose uncomfortable truths. ESB's Seamus O’Loughlin described the financial and psychological impact: "I am still out on my own engaged in a legal process that is costing us an absolute fortune".