Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Tá cinneadh an Rialtais chun táillí coláiste a ardú €1,000 craiceáilte. Is feall scannalach é ar mhic léinn agus ar a muintir. Cuirfidh sé brú sa bhreis orthu fad agus atá siad ag streachailt leis an ghéarchéim chostas maireachtála. For months we have listened for months to the Government telling us how it has students' backs. It has a very funny way of showing it. First the Government decided to hit students and their families with big rent increases and now Fianna Fáil's Minister for higher education, Deputy Lawless, has announced that the Government is going to hike up student fees by €1,000 this September. That is a double whammy.

The Government faces a massive public backlash. As with its madcap rent plan a couple of weeks ago, it is now scrambling around looking for cover. It is total incompetence again from this Government. The Fianna Fáil Minister could not have been clearer. Fees are going up by €1,000 in September. This is just the latest from this Government that is choosing to increase prices for folks in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. In the past number of weeks alone, it chose to hike up the extortionate rents, to hike up the price of petrol, diesel and home heating oil and to hike up the price of the local property tax. Nobody else did this. These were all Government decisions.

As if families were not hurting enough and as if they were not being squeezed enough, the Government comes along with this mad idea to increase the bill for a family sending their son or daughter to college by €1,000. Does the Minister simply not get it? Sending a kid to college is already costing families an arm and a leg. Many of them are pushed to the pin of their collar just to do that. Hitting them with an extra €1,000 will make going to college impossible for many.

No wonder young people are leaving this country in their droves. This Government is determined to mess things up for them in the here and now, right here at home. It is hell bent on ensuring that this country is no country for young people. All this is happening at a time of a massive budgetary surplus of €8.5 billion. The State has never been wealthier. Yet, the Government comes along with this mad idea about taking an extra €1,000 and hiking student fees by that amount. We should be scrapping fees not just for students but also for apprenticeships. We need to make education affordable. That is what a Government on the side of young people would do. It would show them that they matter. It would give them the hope that they can build a good future in their own country.

Aontas na Mac Léinn in Éirinn has called this right. The Students' Union of Ireland has called this absolutely right. It was spot-on when it described the plan to jack up third level fees by €1,000 as a calculated betrayal of students. The public needs clarity. Throughout the State, parents and students are worried about this. Last night, for example, we were contacted by a father who is working every hour that God sends him to put his three children through college. He contacted one of the Government TDs and asked a very simple question. In September, will he have to pay €3,000 per child for student fees, or €2,000? The Government TD could not answer. He got no clarity whatsoever; he got no answer. He does not have an extra €3,000. This is a family beside itself with worry and concern. So many thousands of other families are in the same situation.

Students and their families have had enough and cannot take anymore. I want the Minister to be very clear, put this issue to bed and give clarity to the parents and students out there. When a student gets his or her bill of fees in September, will it cost €2,000 or €3,000? They demand clarity and the Minister should give it now.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I will set out the backdrop to this in the context of the measures that the Government has taken over recent years to make permanent and sustained reductions and interventions that are affordable for many students. If you look at the measures that have been taken, more students than ever are benefiting from financial support through the Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, grant support scheme. One in three students paid no student contribution last year, which is over €44,000, while almost half of students were supported in some way through SUSI last year. Standard rate income thresholds are being increased by 15% from September, one of the largest increases to maintenance thresholds. Households with incomes of up to €64,000 already do not pay a student contribution. There are higher ceilings for families with multiple people attending college at the same time or higher numbers for children. Maintenance grants have been fully restored for eligible postgraduate students and SUSI fee support is now available for the first time ever for specified part-time in-person or hybrid courses.

Despite these measures and permanent changes that were made over a series of budgets, we recognise that many families are under pressure. That is why, in the context of budget 2026, the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Lawless, has said that, in the context of moving away from one-off cost-of-living packages, he wants to see how he can deliver sustained, permanent and costed changes to, for example, the student contribution fee, supports around maintenance and the variety of supports that are there for students. He wants to set that out in the context of the envelope that will be made available. The Minister, Deputy Lawless, will publish an options paper on the cost of education ahead of the budget, setting out the pathways to do this. It will be negotiated in the normal way.

Both the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, and I approach budget 2026 against a backdrop of a huge level of economic uncertainty. I did not hear the Deputy reference that issue in his contribution. We are one week away from the 9 July tariff deadline. The Exchequer returns due to be published next week will give a point-in-time indication of the broader economic position our country is in. We know that the global position is changing. The concentration risks around corporation tax and income tax are there and must be reflected in a cautious and responsible approach to budget 2026.

The Government is engaging in two important pieces of work. One relates to the summer economic statement and setting out the overall envelope for 2026. The other relates to work on the national development plan - which I know the Minister, Deputy Lawless, has significant ambition for - to drive continued support and capital investment in the third level sector in particular.

With all those major downside risks, we are trying to approach this in a cautious way. We will in the coming weeks agree an envelope that will be made available in terms of current expenditure changes and permanent increases in current expenditure across government. It is in that context that the Minister, Deputy Lawless, will be seeking to prioritise continued supports for students and families and to make permanent changes across a range of supports, whether targeted in nature or around the student contribution fee. It is in the context of the budget negotiation process that we will be able to set out the position for families in the aftermath of budget 2026 and what will be possible. The Deputy knows, as does everyone else in the House, that this is the normal way we engage in the budget process. We are not announcing measures or changes right now. We are engaging in the summer economic statement process and agreeing a new national development plan to set out the broader economic context for 2026.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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I asked the Minister for clarity. Does anybody have clarity in respect of the question I asked?

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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No, not a bit.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Families are asking if the fees are going to cost €2,000 or €3,000 come September. The Minister went on to say that this was the way things were done but the Minister, Deputy Lawless, has made it very clear that fees will go up by €1,000. He said that if he did not have a cost-of-living package, he could not take the kinds of measure that were taken last year.

There is no point blaming Donald Trump's tariffs for what the Government is doing to students. Why are students being attacked? This has been done already with rent increases. They are going to get a double whammy. The Minister does not understand or appreciate the strains families are under. I gave an example but there are countless others and they are bound to be in his constituency. These are parents with two and three children in college. That is €2,000 or €3,000 more that they have not budgeted in. Will the Minister give clarity now that the Government's position is that, when the fees letter lands in September, they will be increased by €1,000 and the fees will be charged at €3,000 per student? What is needed-----

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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I thank the Deputy.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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The reason this is happening is because the Government has turned its face against a cost-of-living package-----

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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I thank the Deputy. The time is up.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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-----because it thinks the cost-of-living crisis is over. We need a cost-of-living package and fees need to be reduced, not increased.

Deputies:

Hear, hear.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The economic position our country is in cannot just be dismissed. We must approach budget 2026 with caution. We know if we strip away the windfall nature of many of our tax receipts, there is a potential risk around a deficit position in our economy, which we cannot ignore and the Deputy should not ignore as a finance spokesperson for the main Opposition party.

It is in this context that we are working on the medium-term expenditure strategy and on what targeted, sustained supports we can bring forward and give to families to make public services more affordable and support families when it comes to higher education and the cost of education more generally. It is within this context that we are negotiating budget 2026. I say to families that we will agree an envelope that will be available for changes around taxation, current expenditure and, indeed, the uplift we want to give to capital in the economy.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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I just asked about fees.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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This will form the basis of our discussion with all Ministers on what changes we can make for budget 2026.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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I thank the Minister. The time is up.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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Will it be €2,000 or €3,000 or does the Minister not know?

Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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Is there an increase or not?

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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That is a normal part of the budgetary process that this Government is committed to advancing.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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I thank the Minister. I call Deputy Ivana Bacik.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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It seems this week we are seeing yet another screeching U-turn from the Government. After its recent U-turns on rent pressure zones and tax and spending priorities for this budget, this time the change of tack relates to the announcement by the Minister, James Lawless, on college fees. On Sunday, the Minister took to the national airwaves to say there would be what will amount to a massive hike in fees this year, apparently from the €2,000 students paid last year to €3,000 this year.

As the Minister will know, this U-turn has caused widespread consternation among students, parents and families because the budgeting plans for households across the country, especially those with multiple children in third level, have now been thrown into doubt, and this during a cost-of-living crisis. The Minister knows the pressure households are under. Grocery prices have risen by more than 5% since this time last year. Average monthly rents are now at €2,000.

It is not just families and students who are concerned about the impact of this U-turn, as it appears the junior partner in the coalition of chaos, Fine Gael, is also in consternation about this announcement. The Tánaiste even suggested this morning, in what sounded like a desperate scramble to row back on the Minister’s plans, that third level fees would go up and then might come down again, all within one college year. There was no certainty about it.

It seems Fine Gael backbenchers have gone even further to distance themselves from the Minister, Deputy Lawless. We heard it on yesterday’s "Liveline" programme. A Fine Gael TD tried to do the impossible by simultaneously appearing to both defend and criticise the Minister and sounding shocked about the announcement, which is ridiculous, given that Fine Gael is in government and has no right to be shocked. The Minister mooted this in the spring. The Minister, Deputy Chambers, might remember that on 1 April, an article by Pat Leahy appeared in The Irish Times saying that the Minister, Deputy Lawless, had "signalled [that] the €1,000 could be cut this year, meaning an effective increase in fees for many students". Now, perhaps Fine Gael believed this was an April Fool’s joke, given the date, but this is no laughing matter. On "Liveline" yesterday, we heard the genuine distress and concern among so many families mere weeks before the autumn term begins. Students are now wondering if they will be able to afford to progress to third level at all. This is appalling for people.

At 6 p.m. next Tuesday, Labour has called a protest outside the gates of Leinster House, led by our higher education spokesperson, Senator Laura Harmon. Alongside students, unions and other political parties, we will be calling on the Government to halt this sharp hike in student fees. The Government may have U-turned again by then, and I genuinely hope it will have done so, but I take the opportunity to invite the Minister, Deputy Chambers's colleagues in Fine Gael to come to the protest. Indeed, he would be welcome, too, but his time might be better spent with the Minister, Deputy Lawless, trying to figure out a way to get out of this latest mess of Fianna Fáil’s making. The Government has a surplus of almost €1.8 billion in the National Training Fund. That money can only be spent for education purposes.

Will the Minister consider using that money to keep fees low? Will he commit that students will not have to pay this exorbitantly high increase?

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy knows, in last year's budget, we set out a number of measures of a one-off and temporary nature. The reduction that was made on a one-year basis was reflected in that cost-of-living package. We said, as an incoming Government, that the decisions we would take in the context of budget 2026 would be taken on a permanent and sustained basis. It is on that basis that every Minister will be engaging with me and the Minister for Finance on the envelope that is agreed by the Government in July about his or her priorities in the context of each Department. The Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Lawless, has also said that in the context of a pathway on the cost of education, that publication will be made prior to the budget. He has engaged with many student representatives, recognising the costs that many students face. This is why the backdrop is important. There have been sustained cost reductions in recent years. For example, reckonable income is now €64,000, standard rate income thresholds will increase by 15% from September, which is one of the largest increases to maintenance thresholds, and one in three students pays no contribution. In previous years, Governments took sustained permanent action to reduce the cost of higher education.

What we are saying in the context of budget 2026 is that we want to make further changes but it is about what we can do on a sustained and permanent basis. We have to be cognisant of the economic backdrop, something the Deputy dismissed in her contribution. We face significant economic uncertainty. Everyone in this House needs to realise the level and degree of the concentration risk for corporate risks that exists right now. The changes being undertaken by the OECD in the context of corporation tax bring uncertainty. The underlying trade environment and the open trading economy Ireland sits within present significant uncertainty. This is why we need to approach budget 2026 with caution and we must be assured that the decisions we take can be sustained over the medium to long term. It is on that basis that we are trying to calibrate a tax and expenditure package that is appropriate and responsible. This will involve Ministers making choices and setting out clear priorities around their expenditure demands or changes they want to make to taxation. Ensuring we protect the resilience of the Irish economy is central. If we look at the past number of years, we can see that there has been significant growth in public expenditure in responding to the series of crises the Irish economy faced. We now know many of the downside risks that exist could well crystallise in the short term, which is why we need to be careful around overall expenditure.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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I listened carefully to what the Minister said but, with respect, it is a somewhat Alice in Wonderland approach for parents and students listening in because what I think he said was that people may think that this is an increase but really it is an reduction. That is not the reality. What people will feel in their pockets this year is that they will be paying an extra €1,000. That is the reality for people, no matter how it is sugar-coated or explained away. The Minister said that last year's reduction was just for one year but the programme for Government committed to continuing to reduce and contained an explicit statement about doing so at the start of each academic year. We are approaching the start of the 2025-26 academic year and parents and students have no certainty. Indeed, they are now led to believe that there will be an extra €1,000 to be paid. However the Minister explains it away, people are feeling it. They are feeling the shock of this, they are genuinely worried and it has genuinely thrown budgeting plans in disarray for many households. That is why we are seeking clarity and joining with students and others next week to protest and to seek a further Government U-turn on this hugely important issue.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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What I have been very clear about is that this issue will be part of the broader discussion on budget 2026. That is how annualised budgeting works in this economy and many other economies around the world. That is what we are seeking to do. We will set out an envelope in the coming weeks and each Minister will have to prioritise within that his or her overall expenditure demands.

Of course, I am cognisant of the need to ease the financial burden on students and families over the lifetime of the Government. Part of that is around the student contribution fee but there are other changes that could be made in terms of income thresholds for SUSI and other grants which have targeted and direct support for students. It is examining the broader issue of costs for third level students and, indeed, for other students at primary and secondary levels around the overall costs of education. The past number of years have seen sustained supports on a permanent basis across many areas of our education system. That is what many of my colleagues will be seeking to prioritise as part of budget 2026 but that process is important in terms of what is possible for next year.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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During the election campaign, Fianna Fáil and its coalition partners, Fine Gael, promised to phase out student fees. That is what they promised in their manifesto. The programme for Government promised to reduce student fees. The Government is now breaking the promises it made and is saying the reason it is doing this is because of economic uncertainty. I do take economic uncertainty and risks very seriously. The Social Democrats warned during the election that it was completely irresponsible to promise a whole range of spending increases and tax cuts at the same time. We said the Government would not be able to deliver on them and they ignored those warnings. It is now saying the threats caused by Donald Trump are to blame for this. Donald Trump was elected before our election took place and yet the Government seems to have only discovered those threats after the election. It is fooling no one on this. We are now just weeks away from the start of the new academic year. It is a notoriously expensive time for families. What has the Minister for higher education done? He has dropped a bombshell of student fees going up €1,000 in September.

The Minister does not seem to understand the big deal. He does not seem to understand the very real hardship this will cause. He has tried to brush aside the concerns of students and their families, telling them that all of us in any walk of life have to play the hands we are dealt.

Anyone listening to "Liveline" will have heard the distress and the anger from a succession of callers all of whom are at the ends of their tether. They are already struggling to pay skyrocketing costs for accommodation, groceries and transport and now they have another bill for €1,000 with no idea where it will come from.

This announcement did not take place in a vacuum. Costs are soaring all across the country. Grocery prices are increasing at three times the rate of inflation. The ESB is talking about slapping an additional €80 on energy bills which are already at a record high. Paying for basics like keeping the lights on and putting food on the table is already putting people under huge pressure. People do not have a spare €1,000. Every penny they have is being spent on trying to keep their heads above water. Families and students are already struggling and cannot deal with any additional costs.

The Government gave a firm commitment in the programme for Government. It promised to continue to reduce student fees. It did not say it would jack up student fees by €1,000. It said it would continue the reduction. Anyone reading that would have reasonably thought that student fees would be reduced down from €2,000 where they had been set for the last three years. This is further evidence that the Government simply cannot be trusted and that promises made in the programme for Government cannot be relied on.

Students and their families do not need a war between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael on the airwaves on this. They need the Government to keep the promises it made in the programme for Government. Will the Minister keep the promises made? Where does he think students and their families will find an additional €1,000?

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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It is important we are clear on the budgetary context for budget 2026. Many of my Government colleagues have many priorities in their respective Departments and policy areas which they will commence negotiation on at the end of July and through August. The Minister, Deputy Lawless, has been clear that affordability for students is an important priority for him as part of his negotiation for budget 2026. That is the context. We will engage in the overall envelope as part of what will be available for budget 2026 and it is in that context we will be able to see what is possible for supports around the student contribution fees or, indeed, changes to income thresholds, maintenance grants and the breadth of other supports which are important to support students across our third level sector. The distinction between what has happened in the previous three years and the process we are now entering into is that the decisions we will make as part of budget 2026 are about making permanent and sustained changes for households and workers across our economy.

As a Government, we have been clear that the cost-of-living packages introduced in previous years are not part of the budget 2026 process. It is on that basis that different Ministers will set out their priorities. Obviously, bringing affordability to public services, whether in education, childcare or health, is an important component of many aspects of the programme for Government, including the student contribution fee. The Minister, Deputy Lawless, has engaged extensively with the third level representative bodies and directly with representatives. That is why he is developing the cost-of-education paper which will inform his negotiation as part of budget 2026.

I have also been clear that the overall budgetary context is different this year than it was in previous years. We have significant downside risks facing the Irish economy and endless expenditure asks from anyone in the House need to be carefully managed so that we can sustain whatever decisions we make into the medium to long term. We have a lot of competing demands in government, including significantly ramping up investment in infrastructure and housing, along with supporting the ambition in terms of the enterprise economy, social protection and many other areas of expenditure.

As part of budget 2026, we are engaging in a negotiation, in the aftermath of the summer economic statement, and affordability for students will form part of that overall discussion. The Minister, Deputy Lawless, will engage with everyone across the Government around what is possible within the overall envelope. It is distinct from previous years in that one-off measures will not feature in budget 2026.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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Did the Minister only discover the economic risks and threats posed by the Trump Administration after the election in Ireland took place? That is a very serious question. To justify breaking promises on the basis of the threats posed by the Trump Administration, when it was already in place and we knew that Administration posed huge threats to our economy by the time of our election, and then use that as an excuse for breaking promises after the election does not cut it with people.

It does not cut it to have student fees of €2,000 for three years in a row and then increase them to €3,000, which sounds like what is happening, and then say that is not a broken promise. How can the Government break promises like that? The programme for Government promised a reduction and not an increase in fees. There should be a reduction in the €2,000 figure if the promise was coming to fruition. If Fine Gael's promise to phase out fees was coming to fruition, fees would not increase. How can the Government credibly look Irish students and their families in the eye and break these promises?

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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We will engage in a budget process in the coming weeks, and affordability for students will be a key component of that in terms of trying to continue the permanent changes that were made in recent years. That is the context in which every Government Minister will engage as part of budget 2026. We need to respect that. The measures will be outlined on budget day in October.

On the overall trade environment, the disruption caused by tariffs has been significant since January and has created huge uncertainty in the Irish economy. The changes to the treatment of corporate tax as part of the OECD process bring significant uncertainty. We take those risks seriously. There was discussion during the election campaign about President Trump and the impact the overall trend of deglobalisation would have on the Irish economy. If there are changes to the economic context, the Government or anyone in the political sphere must respond in that context. We want to prioritise the continued affordability of public services for citizens across the State and continue the progress we have made in budget 2026.

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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I raise a matter of grave concern regarding the practical effects of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014. While the Act was conceived with noble intent in the shadow of the experience of the Maurice McCabe case and his testimony, the reality for many whistleblowers across this nation is that the promised protection remains legally at odds with the lived reality of the legislation.

Recent findings of the commission of investigation into the Grace case underscore this point. Despite protected disclosures having been made, the system failed with harrowing consequences. The individuals who spoke out were not met with support but with institutional silence and personal hardship.

One of the most glaring problems with the Act of 2014 is the deficiency of the framework through the absence of legal aid for those who make protected disclosures and subsequently find themselves before the Workplace Relations Commission, the Labour Court or the Circuit Court, High Court or Supreme Court. These individuals are often pitted against a large organisation, such as the HSE and others, with ample legal reassurances and well-resourced legal teams. They are left to shoulder the financial and emotional costs along with this. Moreover, too many of those taking these cases have been bullied, blurred and pushed into a non-disclosure agreement that functions as a de facto gagging clause. Not only does this rob the public of the truth, but it ensures the systemic reform that needs to take place does not take place. It is a chilling message to those who want to be whistleblowers but are afraid to come forward because of the financial implications and risk. I ask the Minister plainly whether the Government will commit to reviewing the Protected Disclosures Act, with a view to introducing statutory legal aid for those individuals who disclose and are deemed appropriate and protected under the 2014 Act?

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy O'Flynn. I take with great seriousness the issues he has identified on the experience of individuals relating to the protected disclosures regime. As he knows, we have various legislation from 2014 up to 2022 reflecting the updated reforms introduced, some of which were introduced in the aftermath of some of the cases he has referenced, and reflecting best practice. Under the current regime a review is built in under the 2022 Act, which is due in 2027. We also have the Protected Disclosures Commissioner, who independently has a statutory function in the context of protected disclosures. Support from my Department is given to Transparency International Ireland; its Speak Up helpline is funded by the Department to support those who make a protected disclosure. Strong legislative and statutory frameworks must also be matched by implementation across Departments, which have responsibility at statutory and departmental level for statutory and mandatory disclosures.

In terms of protected disclosures and Deputy O'Flynn's request for a review, I am happy to engage with him or to get feedback on the experience of the individuals concerned. We need to have a protected disclosures environment which works in the interests of whistleblowers, who should be protected and supported with whatever issue they want to raise. I am happy to reflect on what Deputy O'Flynn has said today in this context, taking into account the fact there is a statutory review period built into the existing legislative framework. I will ask my officials to reflect on what Deputy O'Flynn has stated and what has emanated from what has been expressed by others involved in particular cases.

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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I thank the Minister for his reply but it is a bit like previous replies in that it does not really say much. How many people will come forward as whistleblowers and sign these non-disclosure agreements, and how many problems will be hidden and put under the carpet yet again, before 2027? If we did not have the likes of Vicky Phelan, who decided not to sign a non-disclosure agreement, we may not have ever known of the scandals and the number of deaths. How many things have been hidden in Tusla, the HSE or banking? If whistleblowers had wanted to come forward from the banking sector prior to the collapse in 2007, when we in the House all now know there were people asleep at the wheel at the head of financial regulation, they could not have done so because they had signed non-disclosure agreements. Banking scandals were hidden. So many other scandals are hidden in this country that we are not even able to get to because of the fact that whistleblowers do not have legal support.

We have to get this sorted, or else we will be a nation of cover up after cover up, learning nothing from all the cover ups.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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My Department works with the protected disclosures national advisory group, a forum of disclosure managers from Departments, public bodies and prescribed persons to share best practice and identify any challenges that are emerging from the existing legislative framework. I will ask them to review what the Deputy has stated and feedback from others in the context of what he has said regarding the existing legislative position. Important reforms were made in 2014 and in 2022, all in the interest of supporting those who make a protected disclosure to Departments. I want to ensure that the framework we have is in line with best practice, both in at domestic and European levels-----

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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Not for the whistleblowers.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I assure the Deputy that this is my genuine intention. A legislative framework must protect whistleblowers and those who make a protected disclosure. I will ask the advisory group, which consists of a number of members across different Departments, to review what the Deputy has said and indeed if there are any reforms-----

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Thank you, Minister.