Results 23,321-23,340 of 27,945 for speaker:Michael McGrath

Seanad: Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (23 Jun 2022)

Michael McGrath: I thank Senators Flynn and Higgins for this amendment. We had some discussion earlier on the retrospective application of the Bill and I am sure we will revert to that on Report Stage. This amendment provides that employers with 50 or more employees shall establish, maintain and operate reporting channels and procedures within six months of the commencement of this section. The core...

Seanad: Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (23 Jun 2022)

Michael McGrath: I acknowledge the points the Senator has made. However, the derogation on the issue has been sought, and the time set out in the amendment is in conflict with that. Therefore, I cannot accept it. I understand the point the Senator has made. We are anxious to put the Bill into operation as quickly as possible. Detailed guidance will be issued and there will be an information campaign. I...

Seanad: Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (23 Jun 2022)

Michael McGrath: I thank the Senator for raising the issue. If I set out our thinking, we can then have a discussion and exchange on these matters. These three amendments propose to remove the 50-employee threshold for employers performing a public contract with a value of more than €1 million and employers that are companies with an annual turnover of over €1 million. This would mean that...

Seanad: Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (23 Jun 2022)

Michael McGrath: I thank the Senator for her constructive approach on this issue. I do not think there is a fundamental difference of opinion between us on this point. I am concerned about imposing additional costs on very small businesses. The Senator mentioned the example of a local corner shop or the local plumber. There are costs involved in requiring these processes to be established. The Senator...

Seanad: Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (23 Jun 2022)

Michael McGrath: I take the Senator's point. It is our intention that the threshold will not be applied across the public service. We would be more than happy to tease out with the Senator in a technical way how we envisage the regulation-making power will work and how it might go some way, at least, to addressing the concerns the Senator has raised.

Seanad: Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (23 Jun 2022)

Michael McGrath: The issue here is that the date is set in Article 26.2 of the EU whistleblowing directive. For countries that avail of the derogation, the date of 17 December 2023 is enshrined in that. It is the case we have at this point signalled to employers that fall within this category of between 50 and 250 employees that this is the intended date for this provision to come into effect. Given we...

Seanad: Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (23 Jun 2022)

Michael McGrath: I will set out the formal response and we can perhaps engage on it then. The amendments will limit the ability of employers to share resources for receiving reports and conducting any investigations needed as part of follow-up. The Bill currently provides that employers with fewer than 250 employees can share resources. These amendments would limit that flexibility to employers with fewer...

Seanad: Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (23 Jun 2022)

Michael McGrath: Between now and Report Stage, my officials and I will reflect on the Senator’s remarks. I make the point that it is a provision of the directive that resource-sharing is provided for. That is an obligation within the directive, and for good reason. Although it is important to have these processes in place, we do not wish to impose an unnecessary administrative burden on employers...

Seanad: Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (23 Jun 2022)

Michael McGrath: This is a series of minor amendments to provide that the rules applying to employers in respect of sharing resources shall be without prejudice to their obligations to give further feedback if requested to do so by the reporting person, in accordance with section 6A(1)(f). Under the procedures, a prescribed person shall set out the type and content of any further feedback requested by the...

Seanad: Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (23 Jun 2022)

Michael McGrath: This is a series of technical amendments to replace the phrase “coming into operation”, in all provisions in the Bill where it occurs, with the term “commencement”. This is to ensure the terminology used in the Bill is in line with the most up-to-date drafting conventions used by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel. There is no change to the effect of any of...

Seanad: Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (23 Jun 2022)

Michael McGrath: I thank Senators Higgins and Ó Donnghaile for their contributions on what I acknowledge is a substantive issue in the Bill. The issue was raised a number of times over the course of the debate in Dáil Éireann. I will set out our thinking, rationale and the background to what is proposed in the relevant provisions. These amendments provide for the deletion of section 8(2)(b)...

Seanad: Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (23 Jun 2022)

Michael McGrath: We will consider in good faith any further amendments the Senator puts down. I reiterate the point that we are trying to get away from a scenario whereby the first port of call is to send a protected disclosure to the Minister. One of the issues under the existing Act is that it is silent on precisely what the Minister should do with the protected disclosure when it is received. At least...

Seanad: Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (23 Jun 2022)

Michael McGrath: I want to absolutely assure Senator Higgins and the wider public that introducing any form of chilling effect is not the intention in this Bill. This is a good Bill that strengthens protections for whistleblowers and puts a process in place that I believe will deliver better outcomes. That is really important. That is certainly my only agenda in bringing forward this legislation. I will...

Seanad: Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (23 Jun 2022)

Michael McGrath: This amendment provides for an amendment to section 10 of the principal Act, as amended by this Bill, to reinstate the requirement in the original Act that a worker making a public disclosure should reasonably believe that the information reported is substantially true. The original text in the Bill transposed the provisions concerning public disclosure that are set out in Article 15 of the...

Seanad: Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (23 Jun 2022)

Michael McGrath: This forms part of the package of measures we are providing for retrospective application of the legislation. Section 20 provides for the amendment of section 42 of the Freedom of Information Act to create an exemption from the FOI Act for records pertaining to protected disclosures. This is in order to protect the identities of reporting persons and persons concerned and to prevent the FOI...

Seanad: Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (23 Jun 2022)

Michael McGrath: I thank Senator Flynn for raising this issue. It is important to point out that interim relief is being extended under the Bill to all acts of penalisation, which is a positive development. This amendment proposes to reduce the threshold for employees who wish to apply to the Circuit Court for interim relief following penalisation. It proposes to reduce the threshold from “an...

Seanad: Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (23 Jun 2022)

Michael McGrath: These amendments are related to the provision for an offence for knowingly making false reports. Article 23.2 of the directive provides that such penalties should apply only to reporting persons who make such reports. The Bill as drafted, however, provides that a person who makes a report containing any information that the reporting person knows to be false commits an offence. A concern...

Seanad: Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (23 Jun 2022)

Michael McGrath: Amendment No. 52 is a Government amendment.

Seanad: Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (23 Jun 2022)

Michael McGrath: We deleted the penalty for false reporting and replaced it with the better definition. The concern was that due to the way it was presented, it would not only apply to the whistleblower but could apply to anybody who handled the transmission of the protected disclosure. That is clearly not the intention of the directive or the Bill. It is in favour of whistleblowers and anyone else who is...

Seanad: Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (23 Jun 2022)

Michael McGrath: Amendment No. 59 introduces a new penalty for bodies corporate that commit an offence as set out in the legislation. It provides for a fine of not less than €500,000 on indictment. This is significantly higher than the criminal penalties currently provided for in the Bill, which provide for fines ranging from €75,000 to €250,000. These penalties can apply to...