Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise a couple of issues. I have received a letter which purports to be from a member of staff at the Department of Justice and Equality. To be fair, the detail in it, in terms of the workings of the Department, would suggest it is from a member of staff and it raises some very interesting questions. On whistleblowers, the committee has before it today a fairly detailed letter on the issue from the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan. Members of this committee continually receive letters from whistleblowers in respect of which we have to make judgment calls. In Ms McPhillips opinion, are the procedures in place in the Department of Justice and Equality, and in the agencies and organisations for which it has oversight, adequate to deal with such cases? The Department of Justice and Equality is probably one of the most sensitive in terms of protected disclosures. What is the volume of protected disclosures in the Department and in each of its agencies?