Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I do not accept that, not least because the Minister is bringing forward this legislation in a culture and environment in which it is exceptional for people to come forward and to blow the whistle. The most recent high profile example of that is within the Garda Síochána. Let it be said that the Garda is by no means unique in this regard. One is not starting from a position of widespread practice or acceptance. In the public sector we have seen that writ large and one can only surmise that extends into the private sector for people coming forward. I accept the Minister's point that he does not want to encourage anything that would be malicious or vexatious and the legislation adequately provides for that. The moment one puts it to somebody coming forward, who may not necessarily be an expert in reading legislation, whatever the Minister says about gradations, that it has to be substantially true, an undue burden is placed on the individual complaining.

It places an undue burden on the individual complaining. A better formulation would be "reasonable belief". Should someone come forward with a reasonable belief and it turns out that, in fact, it was a malicious or vexatious act, of course, the legislation caters for this.