Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am grateful for the opportunity to make a contribution on the Bill. Protected disclosures and whistleblowers are often a force for good and an essential component in exposing corruption, illegality, criminality and wrongdoing in public and private bodies. Sometimes they are workers and sometimes they are volunteers and I hope that will get teased out. According to the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, ODCE, whistleblowing is among the most effective means of exposing and remedying corruption, fraud and other types of wrongdoing in the public and private sectors. The important step is to protect the whistleblower and create the environment in which he or she can blow the whistle. Then we must also remedy the issue because that sends a powerful message to other whistleblowers. Often the fear that nothing will happen after you speak out causes people not to speak out when they really want to do so in order to make something happen. It is important that those two things would happen together.

We have seen time and time again that whistleblowing has been valuable in the areas of policing and law enforcement; environmental protection; finance; education; and healthcare. I want to pay tribute to those whistleblowers who have come forward and spoken up. We owe them and we should never forget that. My colleague, an Teachta Mairéad Farrell, has been raising the need to modernise legislation in this area since she was elected and this has been very high on her agenda. Along with an Teachta Buckley, she introduced legislation to amend the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 last December. I am sure the publication of that Bill went in no small way to ensuring we are discussing this Bill, which, as has been pointed out, is welcome. It is my firm contention that the Sinn Féin Bill from na Teachtaí Mairéad Farrell and Buckley has many superior aspects and I hope the Minister will take on board those constructive suggestions that have been coming from an Teachta Mairéad Farrell on Committee Stage. The Minister will be aware of those suggestions.

Modernisation of this legislation on protected disclosures is essential if we want to tackle corruption. For too long a lack of support and protections has left whistleblowers exposed to victimisation and penalisation. We have seen this happen before our eyes with high-profile whistleblowers in this State and we have sometimes seen the full weight of the machinery of the State come down on whistleblowers. I have worked with whistleblowers, held their hands, made them tea and tried to encourage them to come forward and sometimes they are terrified. They believe that if they can get the story they have to tell onto the right desk and if it is given the right attention, they will see real action taken. However, they are often terrified and the Oireachtas needs to send a message to them that we will be on their side and that when they come forward they will be listened to and believed. When it comes to protecting them in the inevitable aftermath, the full weight of the Oireachtas must be behind protecting them and making sure they do not go down the road we have seen other whistleblowers forced down. We need to be able to tell them they can come forward and that they will be believed and listened to. Most importantly we must be able to tell them that action will be taken and that they will be protected. As an Teachta Mairéad Farrell has outlined, we welcome this Bill and we look forward to strengthening it and making it more robust on Committee Stage.

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