379. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the specific actions that were taken to implement the recommendations arising from an investigation (details supplied) into protected disclosures concerning dysfunctional reporting systems; and the audit or verification that has been carried out to confirm their effectiveness in practice. [23472/26]
Topics / Protected Disclosures
A subject heading for parliamentary questionsProtected Disclosures
138 questions from 19 TDs, between 22 January 2025 and 22 October 2026.
138
questions
135 written, 3 oral
19
TDs have asked
9
parties and groups
Independents counted together
18
departments asked
Questions per month
The record holds no questions for August, when the Dáil does not sit.
Jan 2025Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions |
|---|---|
| January 2025 | 1 |
| February 2025 | 0 |
| March 2025 | 0 |
| April 2025 | 18 |
| May 2025 | 1 |
| June 2025 | 4 |
| July 2025 | 3 |
| August 2025 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 4 |
| October 2025 | 0 |
| November 2025 | 3 |
| December 2025 | 1 |
| January 2026 | 1 |
| February 2026 | 8 |
| March 2026 | 19 |
| April 2026 | 0 |
| May 2026 | 21 |
| June 2026 | 1 |
| July 2026 | 3 |
| August 2026 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 10 |
| October 2026 | 40 |
Who asks, by party
The party each TD belonged to on the day, in alphabetical order. Parties differ a lot in size, and members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them, so this shows who raised it, not how much a party cares about it.
The TDs who asked most
Members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them. Each question counts once.
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38
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25
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20
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16
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10
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5
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5
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3
Asked of
Debated under the same heading
Debates whose official heading is exactly these words.
The questions
407. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health whether she is aware of protected disclosures made by staff within CHI in relation to IT systems, governance, or patient safety concerns; if so, the actions that were taken; the investigations that were carried out; and the outcomes or remedial measures that were implemented. [22830/26]
408. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health whether she has engaged with any whistleblowers or representatives in relation to concerns raised within CHI; and if so, to provide details. [22831/26]
409. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health whether any communications have taken place between her and senior CHI leadership, including the CEO, in relation to protected disclosures made by staff; and if so, to provide details. [22832/26]
410. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the protections, supports, and remedies that are currently in place for healthcare staff who make protected disclosures within CHI and the HSE, including psychological supports, employment protections, and access to compensation or redress where harm has occurred. [22833/26]
415. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation whether the reversal of the burden of proof provided for under the protected disclosures legislation applies only during formal adjudicative proceedings before bodies such as the Workplace Relations Commission and the courts, or whether it also applies during the administrative handling and inve…
416. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation whether any guidance has been issued to public bodies advising that the evidential presumption relating to retaliation under the protected disclosures legislation should be applied when assessing disclosures internally; and if no such guidance has issued, whether the Government has considered wh…
417. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation whether the Government has assessed whether administrative decisions taken without applying the evidential presumption provided for in the protected disclosures legislation may expose the State to avoidable litigation risk where those decisions are later challenged in proceedings before the Work…
418. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation if the Government has considered the interaction between the evidential presumption in whistleblower legislation and the Government’s State Litigation Principles, particularly the requirement that State bodies seek to avoid unnecessary litigation and protect public funds. [22390/26]
419. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation whether the Government has reviewed whether the current interpretation of the burden-of-proof provisions in Irish whistleblower legislation fully reflects the objectives of Directive (EU) 2019/1937, particularly in ensuring effective protection against retaliation. [22391/26]
420. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation whether any written guidance, circulars, or instructions have been issued to Departments, agencies, or prescribed persons regarding the application of the evidential presumption provided for under the protected disclosures legislation when assessing alleged retaliation during the administrative …
243. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation the number of times the Office of the Protected Disclosures Commissioner has exercised its powers under section 10 of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 (as amended) since its establishment; and if those powers have not been exercised, the reasons for this. [20966/26]
245. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation whether the statutory functions of the Office of the Protected Disclosures Commissioner under the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 (as amended) are considered to be fully discharged once a disclosure has been transmitted to a prescribed person or public body; and whether the commissioner has any o…
246. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation the procedures that exist within the Office of the Protected Disclosures Commissioner to reconsider or review a decision identifying the appropriate person or body to receive a protected disclosure where the originally identified body indicates that the matter does not fall within its remit; and…
364. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration whether offences under section 14A of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014, as inserted by the Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Act 2022, are recorded under a distinct offence code within the Garda crime-recording system or any successor national crime statistics framework; the number of such offences recorded, investigated, and referre…
365. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of complaints or reports made to An Garda Síochána alleging offences under section 14A of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014, as inserted by the Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Act 2022, in each year since that provision commenced; and the number of investigations initiated, files submitted to the Director of Public Prosec…
1238. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration to outline the Department's policy regarding reviews of protected disclosure assessment decisions, including whether reviewers are required to be independent of the original decision-maker; whether reporting persons are informed of the reviewer's role or title; and the standard timeframe applied for issuing review outcomes. [18295/26]
666. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration whether his Department has issued any policy guidance, circulars, statutory codes or administrative instructions concerning the classification and statistical reporting of offences under section 24 of the Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Act 2022; whether his Department has undertaken any review of the adequacy of national reporting m…
667. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the statistical and reporting framework relied upon by his Department for compiling figures on referrals and prosecutions under section 24 of the Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Act 2022; whether those figures are drawn from offences recorded under a distinct legislative code within national reporting systems; and whether he is satis…
753. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration whether it is Departmental policy or practice that Ministers are not provided with the substance of correspondence that may constitute a protected disclosure; if so, the legal basis for such a policy; and whether, where correspondence is subsequently determined not to be a protected disclosure, the Minister is then provided with the co…
754. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration how the statutory suspending authority functions of a Minister are exercised in circumstances where correspondence raising serious allegations is not provided to the Minister on the basis that it may constitute a protected disclosure; and whether any guidance exists to ensure that the Minister’s discretion is not unintentionally fetter…
755. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration what procedures and timelines apply to internal reviews of protected disclosure assessment decisions within the Department; whether there are target timeframes for completion; and how procedural fairness is ensured for reporting persons during such reviews [14354/26]
439. Deputy Johnny Guirke asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation the protections available to franchisees or workers of a company (details supplied) who make protected disclosures regarding corporate governance, employment status, or misconduct. [10232/26]
782. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of protected disclosures which were transmitted by him to the OPDC under section 8 during the period 1 November 2025 to-date in 2026. [7787/26]
783. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration regarding disclosures, the number who had not yet completed initial assessment or follow-up at the time of the cybersecurity incident affecting the OPDC in December 2025. [7788/26]