Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 38:

In page 24, between lines 12 and 13, to insert the following: “(aa) otherwise, where the Minister deems it to be in the public interest, the relevant Minister shall acknowledge, in writing, to the reporting person, receipt of a report made to the Minister not more than 7 days after receipt of it, save where the reporting person explicitly requested otherwise or the Minister reasonably believes that acknowledging receipt of the report would jeopardise the protection of the identity of the reporting person.

(ab) The Minister shall ensure that where a report is received by the Minister through channels and procedures other than those provided for in subsections (1) and (2) or is received by a member of staff other than a designated person—

(i) it shall be forwarded promptly and without modification to the designated person, and

(ii) any information that might identify the reporting person or the person concerned shall not be disclosed by such member of staff.

(ac) The Minister shall designate one or more than one member of staff (in this section referred to as a ‘designated person’) to be responsible for handling reports and, in particular, for providing any person with information on the procedures for making a report in the manner specified in section 7.

(ad) The Minister shall ensure that designated persons receive specific training for the purposes of handling reports.

(ae) The Minister shall publish on a website maintained by or on behalf of the Minister in a separate, easily identifiable and accessible section at least the following information:

(i) the conditions for qualifying for protection under this Act;

(ii) the contact details of the Minister for the purpose of making reports to the Minister in the manner specified in section 6 and 58, in particular the electronic and postal addresses and the telephone numbers for making such reports, indicating whether the telephone conversations are recorded.”.

I withdraw the amendment and reserve the right to resubmit on Report Stage.