Ms Lorraine Heffernan:

In respect of how to assess a disclosure, clear parameters are set out in the Protected Disclosures Act. When clients come to us, that is the first step we take. We have to check whether the information has come to them in connection with their employment and whether they have a reasonable belief that it shows one or more of the relevant wrongdoings set out in the Act. This is tied in to the issue to which Mr. Devitt referred. People who receive disclosures need to be trained to recognise a protected disclosure. He referred to grievances. At a webinar we held this morning, I commented on the proposed new section 5(9) in the heads of the Bill. It states "A matter is not a relevant wrongdoing if it is a matter concerning interpersonal grievances exclusively affecting the reporting person, namely grievances about interpersonal conflicts between the reporting person and another worker and the matter can be channelled to other procedures designed to address such matters." My point was that while I am sure that has been proposed as something perceived as helpful, when the definition is broken down there are four parameters to be met. Moreover, it refers to only one type of grievance, an interpersonal grievance. A High Court decision highlights the point I want to make, namely, that a grievance can contain elements of a protected disclosure.

That is why a recipient of a disclosure needs to be trained to recognise that something which might appear as a grievance in the beginning could have protected disclosure elements. If someone is not properly trained, he or she might dismiss something as merely a grievance when it does, in fact, contain protected disclosure elements, which can result in wrongdoing either not being detected or being wilfully ignored. We must also take into consideration the fact that the employment arena, as well as being a business arena, is a human relationships arena. Things do not happen within neatly defined parameters. A worker who comes across wrongdoing, particularly one who is a loyal employee, usually reports something but often is blindsided by the reaction of an employer who does not want to hear it. Something that will eventually become a protected disclosure may begin as a grievance. It is important to think about that issue.

In connection with the same issue, I will just mention that the directive is not something we are obliged to transpose. It is referred to in a recital and is suggested as something that we could consider doing. In my experience, it is something about which one would need to think carefully. The idea that a grievance can contain protected disclosures elements would need to be encompassed. That is the main point I wanted to clarify.