Poor record-keeping at Stormont was a key problem exposed by the inquiry into the RHI scandal which brought down power-sharing.
Note-taking relating to the botched Renewable Heat Incentive energy scheme was repeatedly shown to be sparse and inconsistent.
It raised serious concerns over transparency and a culture of secrecy, with senior officials admitting some minutes were not recorded as Sinn Féin and the DUP were "sensitive to criticism".
Read more: Brendan Hughes: 'Dickensian' fuel poverty fund roll-out raises questions for Belfast City Council
After a public inquiry lasting several years and costing taxpayers around £13million, we were promised everyone would do better.
But less than three years since inquiry chair Sir Patrick Coghlin delivered his findings, an investigation into another Stormont controversy has shown strikingly similar failures.
Dr Tamara Bronckaers was a senior vet in the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera).
She raised with her superiors serious concerns about animal welfare and meat traceability, but just like a whistleblower in the RHI scandal, her warnings were ignored.
An industrial tribunal found Dr Bronckaers had been constructively dismissed from her job, with the judge saying she had been professionally undermined and excluded.
Similar to the "cash for ash" scandal, this fiasco has been a costly affair. Dr Bronckaers received a £1.25million settlement last April after Daera dropped an appeal and issued an unreserved apology.
The department also racked up legal costs of around £277,000 - but the final overall bill has yet to be established.
And now just like the RHI debacle, Stormont's record-keeping and note-taking has been shown to fall short yet again.
There was a "lack of detailed and consistent record-keeping and documentation to provide a sufficient audit trail of how concerns were dealt with", an independent review has found.
There was also a "gap in notes" for key discussions and decisions surrounding the tribunal, and it "remains unclear" who made the potentially expensive decision to lodge an appeal.
The PwC report described a "paucity" of documentation to support the move and "determine whether it was a transparent process".
The parallels with RHI on poor note-taking were too stark for Stormont officials to sidestep, with the Head of the Civil Service Jayne Brady admitting it was "not good enough".
Publication of the report on a Wednesday afternoon - rather than the typical choice of a Friday afternoon for burying bad news - may also show some willingness to acknowledge mistakes.
But will anyone take responsibility?
After the multiplicity of failures identified over RHI across several departments, it was reported only one civil servant was disciplined. A feather duster on the wrist.
An "action plan" was produced by the Stormont Executive in response to the RHI inquiry, and yet again another one has been compiled in response to this whistleblowing vet controversy.
A new "raising a concern policy framework" has been published as well as a "refreshed" Civil Service code of ethics, which we're told includes an "obligation on all civil servants to keep proper records".
But nowhere within the Executive Office's 759-word press release announcing these moves did it mention any prospect of anyone facing disciplinary action.
Key players in the unfolding of this latest costly controversy were not even named in the independent review.
With more than 23,000 staff, the Civil Service offers the vital cogs for delivering devolved government, advising ministers on policy options and driving forward their decisions in the hope of making Northern Ireland a better place.
Transparency and clear record-keeping are especially important at this time when there is no functioning Executive and unelected civil servants are left in charge.
But until the Civil Service holds itself properly accountable when problems arise, the failures over RHI and this latest whistleblowing controversy will continue to happen again and again.
READ NEXT:
Brendan Hughes: Labour leader Keir Starmer's Brexit NI Protocol offer highlights Tory divisions
Brendan Hughes: Brexit NI Protocol letter prompting unionist fury stated the obvious
Brendan Hughes: Parish-pump politics adding to pressure on health service
Brendan Hughes: DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson must find a way of saving face
For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here. To sign up to our FREE newsletters, see here
