Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 42:

In page 19, to delete lines 9 to 13 and substitute the following:“Internal procedures for protected disclosures made by workers employed by public bodies

21. (1) Every public body shall establish and maintain procedures for the making of protected disclosures by workers who are or were employed by the public body and for dealing with such disclosures.

(2) The public body shall provide to workers employed by the body written information relating to the procedures established and maintained under subsection (1).

(3) The Minister may issue guidance for the purpose of assisting public bodies in the performance of their functions under subsection (1) and may from time to time revise or re-issue it.

(4) Public bodies shall have regard to any guidance issued under subsection (3) in the performance of their functions under subsection (1).”.

The amendments in this group relate to the internal procedures to be put in place by public bodies, the guidelines to be put in place by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform in respect of the content of those guidelines and the information to be provided by public bodies to the Minister. Much of the content of the amendments relates to the matters we have been discussing up to now.

The purpose of amendment No. 42 is to elaborate on the provision in section 21 requiring public bodies to establish and maintain procedures. As the Bill has progressed through both Houses, a number of suggestions in respect of establishing and maintaining procedures have been articulated by both Senators and Deputies. In that regard, I wish to record my gratitude to Deputy McDonald, who agreed to withdraw a related amendment on Committee Stage in order to provide me with the opportunity to consider the matter she had addressed in that amendment. Many issues surrounding the maintenance of consistency in internal procedures would normally fall to be dealt with by my Department on an administrative basis and would not usually be provided for in primary legislation. That said, I sympathise with the concerns that have been expressed with regard to the need to ensure that consistency applies in respect of these matters. The amendment proposes the inclusion, in section 21, of a provision allowing the Minister to issue guidance, together with a requirement that public bodies shall have regard to any such guidance issued. This approach represents normal administrative practice and provides the Minister with a greater degree of latitude in respect of the matters to which the guidelines relate. Above all, it deals with the issue of consistency, which we discussed on Committee Stage.

On amendment No. 43, in the past I have referred to the difficulties associated with the inclusion of volunteers within the ambit of the Bill. The lack of a contractual arrangement between the relevant parties gives rise to difficulties in accommodating volunteers within the framework of legislation in a meaningful way. People who are volunteers are not employees in any strict sense. I am cognisant of the concerns that were raised in respect of volunteers in the context of amendment No. 43. While I do not propose to accept the amendment, I will ensure that specific provision for volunteers will be made in the guidelines to which I referred when discussing amendment No. 42. I will also require that information on the relevant procedures will be circulated to all such persons.

It is important to say such an approach does not bring volunteers within the remit of the legislation because we cannot provide for a Labour Court determination. However, that was not the point made on Committee Stage. I have said that, in view of the absence of any contractual relationship and the non-remuneration status of volunteers, it is not intended, as debated on Second Stage and again on Committee Stage, to bring volunteers within the ambit of the legislation. However, the guidelines I propose under the new amendment will broaden the legislation to ensure it provides a framework for public service organisations within which appropriate arrangements can be made to issue reports made by volunteers that do not fall within the ambit of the legislation. In essence, I am keen to ensure that where volunteers have something to report, there will be a mechanism in place for this to happen and it will be captured in the guidelines I propose to issue.

On amendment No. 44, I am conscious of the fact that the issue of the number and type of protected disclosures received by public bodies has featured in the debate in this and the other House. Amendment No. 45 tabled by Deputy Mary Lou McDonald reprises many elements of the debate. I have given the matter detailed consideration in the period since Committee Stage and I am bringing forward amendment No. 44 which proposes to insert a new section 22 to require every public body to prepare and publish on an annual basis anonymised information on the protected disclosures it has received in the previous 12 months. The publication of this information will provide for a significant degree of transparency in the operation of the Bill in public bodies. That was what we were trying to capture in the debate on Committee Stage. I believe and hope the proposal in amendment No. 44 meets the objectives of Deputy Mary Lou McDonald and, in view of this, that she will not proceed with her amendment.

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