Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 7 is an attempt to make sure the 50-employee threshold for the requirement to create internal reporting channels would not apply where the company has a public contract with a value of more than €3 million. As the Minister of State will know, I have a keen interest in public procurement. Part of the quality criteria we have discussed in this House is how a company treats it workers, and general issues of quality and good practice. If the Government gives public contracts to companies, it is very important there are proper internal reporting channels to ensure there are necessary and appropriate safeguards for workers who wish to highlight a matter of concern. This is very important because we are not simply talking about a company but public money, and due diligence, due process and due care being given in respect of public money. We know there are situations where companies with a very small number of employees may have responsibilities relating to very large amounts of public money. In those contexts, it is very important such companies have internal reporting channels.

During the previous discussion, the Minister of State outlined the small but very important measures that are the difference between having a proper internal reporting channel and simply sending an email. For example, on the question of there being specific emails and specific guarantees of confidentiality, a number of practical mechanisms are involved in having a proper internal reporting channel. The Minister of State himself made the case for how important these were in giving greater confidence to workers who make a disclosure.

If a public contract is worth more than €3 million, we would all want to know whether something is up and whether there is an issue that merits a disclosure. It is very important - amendment No. 8 references this and makes it very clear - that under section 8(4), where the Minister can make orders relating to particular areas of high risk, there are exceptions to the employee thresholds. Amendment No. 8 states the Minister should, when he is making such orders, "have regard to the need to ensure that companies [who are] performing high value public contracts ... [should have] internal reporting channels regardless of the number of employees they have".

This was an issue I discussed with the Department. I had thought there was a degree of recognition of it. In the previous debate, the Minister of State seemed to recognise there was merit in this argument. I had expected a Government amendment in respect of this. I hope the Government will, at a minimum, signal its intention to make orders in respect of this matter, even if it does not accept my amendments requiring it to do so.