Eileen Flynn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 4:

In page 7, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following:

“(ha)bringing vexatious proceedings against the worker,”.

This amendment would mean that bringing vexatious proceedings intended to penalise a worker would be included in the definition of penalisation under the Bill, as per recommendation No. 9 of the pre-legislative scrutiny report of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach. Transparency International Ireland has also recommended that this measure be included in the legislation. Through this amendment, the bringing of vexatious proceedings against a worker to keep his or her quiet in the context of a protected disclosure process would be recognised in law as penalisation.

Amendment No. 5 seeks to clarify that psychiatric or medical referrals without reasonable cause should be recognised as a penalisation where the requirements for having reasonable cause are not met. Basically, we are trying to protect whistleblowers.