Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

It is important we gather the information and set aside time to consider this. Having engaged with some people who have made protected disclosures or who are whistleblowers, I know that not everyone who makes a protected disclosure will be found to be 100% correct or whatever. We are now at a point where it is unsatisfactory for many people who make protected disclosures, and this committee has met some people in that context. It is important that we gather the full set of replies. There is a directive we have to transpose by the end of the year in regard to widening the number of people who can make protected disclosures, so it would be very useful to have that overview and learning. Not every committee has what the Committee of Public Accounts has, namely, an overview of all Departments, so we are probably well placed to do that.

We can gather the information in the first instance but I believe we have to do something more than that in considering just exactly how effective it is. We need this to be effective to help to change practices and for there to be a viable avenue in this regard without people feeling their career is going to take a dive.