Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 29 September 2021

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach

General Scheme of the Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion

Mr. John Farrelly:

I will pass that question over to my general counsel colleague, Ms Keane, but I believe that public bodies and most corporate bodies tend to look after themselves more than they look after individuals. Where an individual is raising a wrongdoing, careers may be at stake and systems may be called into question so there is a defensive instinct among people who have power and those at the top, as we have seen over the last ten or 20 years. There is a defensive instinct so the idea of a Leviathan or an oversight or scrutiny body that people can go to, with guaranteed impartiality, would add value. I will now pass over to my colleague.