Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I thank our guests for giving us their time and expertise. When the Protected Disclosures Act was enacted in 2014, it was probably among the most significant legislation to have been enacted by the Oireachtas in the past 20 years or so but it is very complicated. Under section 17, protected disclosures can, in certain circumstances, be made to Members of the Oireachtas if they relate to certain law enforcement issues. Several years ago, my former colleague, Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, and I received a protected disclosure. Obviously I cannot go into too much detail on the disclosure. It is a legal minefield but in the circumstances of that disclosure it worked out very well and quite promptly. Mr. Clifford referred to the need to speed up the process. Has it become a very legalised process and is that part of the reason it has become so slow?