Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 27:

In page 13, line 19, after "disclosure" to insert ", as defined in the Whistleblowers Act,".

Deputy Broughan and I did not discuss this issue and both our amendments on this matter were put down spontaneously. Reference is made to whistleblowers and disclosure of information and evidence. We agree that a person divulging information which could be beneficial to the consumer or industry should receive adequate cover. I also felt a number of other protections might be put in place.

One of these would be the introduction of a primary Act, the Whistleblowers Act, to which it is proposed to refer. On Committee Stage the Minister indicated it was the intention of the Government to split the Act through the various line Departments instead of having a single Act which could be referred to as primary legislation. I am interested in the Minister's comments on this.

The rest of the amendments under discussion are along similar lines. Amendment No. 28 refers to the need to ensure the information provided is not false, groundless or malicious, and we also discussed that at length on Committee Stage. It is a protection to ensure deliberate damage is not done by a competitor, for example. It would also protect the system, the Minister and the service provider.

Amendment No. 29 is in Deputy Broughan's name. Amendment No. 30 provides that information, if sensitive, does not become public knowledge until its veracity has been established. The reason for that amendment is that we know, for example, information has often come before tribunals which is initially quite damaging to the reputation of a person central to an allegation.

There would be virtually no way the person against whom the allegation is made — the accused for want of a better description — could recover the ground. Mud thrown might well be ground lost but it would at least cause damage. It has done so to people's reputations, and the matter has been a subject of contention in legal terms, as well as everything else.

Amendment No. 31 is again a reference as defined under the Whistleblowers Act. Amendment No. 32 is something similar, and I have already spoken on the matter.

See this speech in context