Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

The Whistleblowers Protection Bill 1999 was a Private Members' Bill introduced by Deputy Rabbitte on 15 June 1999 and was accepted by the Government. The purpose of the Bill was to provide protection from civil liability to employees who make certain disclosures reasonably and in good faith on the conduct or the business and affairs of their employers.

A memorandum for Government was circulated to Departments in July 2000, and observations of Departments were received in November of that year. In early 2001 extensive amendments were prepared based on consultations with all Departments. In July 2001, after approval from the Government, the amendments were forwarded to the Office of Parliamentary Counsel to be drafted. The amendments approved by Government raise a number of detailed and complex issues that require a substantial redrafting of the Bill by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel.

The Government retained the Bill on its legislative programme after the general election and, since then, progress on drafting the amendments has been interrupted by the necessity to afford precedence to priority aspects of the Government's legislative programme. Proceeding with the 1999 Bill is not viewed as a priority at present but may be addressed at some future time when the priorities in the Government's legislative programme have been implemented.

While some considerable drafting work has been done with a view to progressing the legislation, it is now considered on reflection that the provision of statutory protection for whistleblowers on a sectoral basis might provide a better and more focused approach to dealing with this issue, such as section 4 of the Protections For Persons Reporting Child Abuse Act 1998 and section 50 of the Competition Act. In addition, the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004, which is currently before the Dáil, provides for the protection against dismissal and penalisation of employees who, in good faith, take steps to protect themselves or others in the workplace. That is the situation with regard to the whistleblowers legislation.

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