Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

There is some confusion about sharing time. I am sharing time with Deputies Ross, Clare Daly and Wallace.

The identity of a whistleblower should be presumed to be protected rather than having a provision that they must indicate they want their identity protected.

I welcome the Minister’s intention to bring forward an amendment to deal with interim relief for whistleblowers. This has been raised as a concern at the Oireachtas committee and by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. The Minister has outlined that no new systems or structures will be put in place to oversee this legislation, thereby limiting any potential costs arising from it. That is a retrograde step. An amendment was put forward in the Seanad by Senator Zappone to provide for the Standards in Public Office Commission to receive information from the Government on the operation of the legislation. The Minister should give this proposal further consideration. Legislation such as this should not be implemented and then left for five years before it will be reviewed.

In particular, there should be ongoing reviews to ascertain how public bodies are implementing legislation and facilitating whistleblowing within their organisations.

The final point I wish to make pertains to the definition of "worker" contained in the Bill. There is some concern that it may exclude many categories of contractor, including external auditors, accountants and professional advisers. This definition should be reconsidered by the Minister to ensure it is as wide as possible. Concern has also been expressed about voluntary workers. As all Members are aware, many charities rely on voluntary workers who should be covered on this basis to provide for disclosures if they arise in their particular situation. In addition, on foot of the increased use of internships within both private and public organisations, in order to prevent employers from designating such persons as volunteers and thereby placing them outside the scope of the legislation, the Bill should be amended to provide that persons in internships or who are working for no pay within an organisation are protected under this legislation.

This legislation can lead to a change in culture within organisations across the State, which would be very welcome. I hope this will be the main outcome of the legislation but protections will then be in place for those who must make disclosures and that constitutes a welcome step.

See this speech in context