Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

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 and I do not think we should exclude the possibility that they might use the support and services of a third-party company.

The Senator raised several issues in respect of the group context. It is the case that where the group structure is used as such, feedback to the person who submits the protected disclosure, that is, the whistleblower, must be given at subsidiary level. It is important that direct relationship is maintained in the work-out and follow through of each protected disclosure that is made. We can revert to it again. We will reflect on what the Senator has said. We do have the limitation that the directive provides for resource sharing, so we have to provide for it in some way.