2025-12-11

3. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation the status of protected disclosures legislation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [70884/25]

This question relates to protected disclosures. We all recognise the importance of whistleblowers and the incredible work they do for our society in calling out wrongdoing. Unfortunately, doing so for the better of society often comes at their own expense. There was a debate on a Private Members' motion on this issue a few weeks ago. Will the Minister provide an update on whistleblower legislation?

As the Deputy is aware, the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 is Ireland's national whistleblower protection law. Significant amendments to the Act were signed into law in July 2022. The amended Act gives effect to EU Directive 2019/1937 and provides for the establishment of the Office of the Protected Disclosures Commissioner within the Ombudsman's office. As Minister, I am obligated to commence a statutory review of the Act no later than five years after the date of enactment, which is July 2027. That review must be completed and a report made to the Oireachtas no later than July 2028. I will arrange for the review to commence in advance of 2027 and for a public consultation to take place during 2026. A number of stakeholders have been pointing to challenges arising from the implementation of the amended legislation, including the protected disclosure processes and procedures. The statutory review will be an opportunity to bring to light any issues arising by consulting a more complete range of stakeholders and hearing their respective perspectives. It is clearly preferable to put forward amendments that are well considered and based on the experience and evidence of all relevant stakeholders. The consultation will provide an opportunity to ensure that is done. It is important to note that the legislation has only been in force for three years and many of the provisions in the Act have yet to be fully tested in practice and in the courts. The legislation was designed to encourage workers to report instances of potential wrongdoing. Given the amended Act only commenced on 1 January 2023, my Department has only two full years of statistics on the number of reports of wrongdoing received by Departments, public bodies and prescribed persons. The statistics suggest that the volume of reports received is increasing. In 2023, more than 1,100 reports were received, while in 2024, the number was just over 1,500. This increase suggests a greater awareness of the amendments that were introduced in 2022 among workers and that more workers felt motivated to make a protected disclosure under the framework. In the meantime, effective ways to address the issues arising from the ongoing implementation of the protected disclosures legislation include increased training and guidance for employers, regulators and designated recipients, as well as providing more guidance to workers to ensure their concerns are directed to the appropriate channels.

The legislation may only be in place three years but we knew, when it was going through the Houses, that it was far too weak. Everybody agreed on that. It was almost the weakest transposition of the directive that could be made. One of the key issues debated at the time was retrospectivity and how so many people were locked out of the Act's provisions. Has the Minister dealt with EU counterparts on the issue of retrospectivity and whether they, too, excluded people? If not, will he undertake to have that engagement? I welcome the review because it is needed. When in 2026 will it open in terms of public consultation? What direct engagement has the Minister had with whistleblowers in this regard? The least we can do for whistleblowers is to ensure they have protections in law because, unfortunately, so many of them really suffer as a result of their whistleblowing.

I have had limited engagement on this matter with counterparts at an EU level. The directive has been transposed. Our Presidency in 2026 will allow opportunities for engagement on it. In the context of the review that will be happening in parallel, there will be a greater opportunity to take wider European feedback on this issue. We transposed the directive and legislation was enacted in 2022. Ultimately, I want to make sure, as I am sure we all do, that we have a system that works. It is timely to have a review that takes into account people's full experiences and everyone's interaction with the existing system. Following that consultation, I am open to taking the feedback and seeing how we can have a system that best supports whistleblowers. That is ultimately the direction and context in which I want to see it operate.

This is an issue I am particularly passionate about and I appeal directly to the Minister in this regard. Whistleblowers are telling us they are being failed by the legislation. The Minister has responsibility for it, albeit he has advisers and all of that, and I am appealing directly to him to really look, by way of the review, at the best way to ensure whistleblowers are specifically protected and to take that on board personally. Will he examine whether there are areas in the EU where this process works well and what can be done to strengthen our regime to protect our whistleblowers? I had concerns at the time, which I have raised again numerous time this year, about protected disclosures not going directly to Ministers and those Ministers then being able to say they cannot deal with them because they are with the protected disclosures office. There was an element of concern about that at the time and it is still a huge area of concern. I ask the Minister to look at this personally. It is such an important area and he has such power in relation to it. I urge him to listen to the whistleblowers.

I will, of course, listen to and engage with whistleblowers. The review is really important, which is why we are bringing it forward from 2027 to 2026 to ensure we have broad feedback. They system I want to see operating is one that works for whistleblowers. As I said, we will be able to advance that next year.