Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I am taking this Topical Issue debate on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Health, Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill. As the Deputy will be aware, the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitisation is the lead-Department on protected disclosure legislation and provides guidance on all protected disclosure processes and guidance. Section 21(1) of the Protected Disclosures Act in Ireland empowers the Minister for public expenditure to issue guidance to public bodies to assist them in fulfilling their responsibilities under the Act. This guidance aims to help public bodies establish and maintain effective procedures for handling protected disclosures. The Minister may also issue guidance on the information that must be published setting out how disclosures may be made to Ministers or Ministers of State. This guidance is issued with the aim of assisting the persons referred to when establishing and maintaining reporting channels and procedures for the making of protected disclosures and for dealing with such reports of disclosures, referred to in this guidance as "procedures". Section 21(2) of the Act provides that the persons referred to above "shall have regard to" this guidance when establishing and maintaining such procedures. This means that while the channels and procedures should be tailored according to the specific business needs of the organisations concerned; they should be in general conformity with the principles set out in this guidance.

The Department of Health encourages all staff to speak up about concerns they may have about potential wrongdoings in the workplace. The Department has established procedures for the making of protected disclosures via our internal and external channels. All reports received are forwarded to the Office of the Protected Disclosures Commissioner. This ensures all reports of alleged wrongdoing doing are dealt with in a fair and transparent manner by the most appropriate prescribed person or other suitable person. Reports received in the Department are treated seriously and investigated where appropriate. The Protected Disclosures Act requires that the identity of the whistleblower is protected and remains confidential to the greatest extent possible. Whistleblowers are informed on how their concerns are addressed and the outcome of any investigation. Whistleblowers are protected from penalisation and should not fear making a disclosure. The Department of Health is committed to ensuring all staff members feel they can safely make reports of any alleged wrongdoings.

See this speech in context