Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 27:

In page 30, line 9, after "year." to insert the following:"The details of such report shall be published in such manner as would not in any way identify a person who has made a protected disclosure.".

This Schedule provides for the appointment by the Taoiseach of a disclosures recipient for the categories we discussed earlier. This amendment relates to the final subsection of the Schedule, which provides that: "No later than 31 March in each year the Disclosures Recipient shall submit to the Taoiseach a report on his or her activities in the immediately preceding year." I am proposing that "The details of such report shall be published in such manner as would not in any way identify a person who has made a protected disclosure" be included after that. There is no point in the Taoiseach putting such a report in his bottom drawer where no one can get hold of it. The Minister spoke some time ago about the idea of open information and open data. This provision is part of that issue. It is clear that I do not want to compromise that issue in any way.
I intend to table a further amendment to this Schedule on Report Stage. The first subsection of this Schedule provides that: "The Taoiseach shall appoint as the Disclosures Recipient a person who is a judge or retired judge of the High Court." The second subsection of the Schedule provides that: "The Taoiseach may remove the Disclosures Recipient from office, but only for stated misbehaviour or for incapacity." I will propose on Report Stage that the appointment of this person should be subject to approval by the Oireachtas. In addition, I think the grounds for removing this person from office should not be so narrow. If we provide that the recipient can be removed "only for stated misbehaviour or for incapacity", it might not be possible to remove the recipient if he or she has lost the confidence of the Government or the Parliament. An attempt to remove the officeholder in such circumstances might not fit into the categories that are listed in the Bill as it stands.
I will propose an amendment to try to give the Oireachtas a role in the appointment of the recipient. I do not think the Taoiseach would have a problem with a 15 minute debate like that held when a new Ombudsman or freedom of information commissioner is being appointed. Indeed, I think it would help the process. I do not think any member of the public knew about the existence of the Garda Inspectorate or the presence of a confidential recipient within the force. It is now proposed to provide for a disclosures recipient who can only be appointed by the Taoiseach and who will report only to the Taoiseach. There will be no public notice of his or her appointment and no annual published report. It will be another mystery. It seems that the Government is looking for trouble. All I am saying is that it should be a little more open about this matter.