Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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Question 66: To ask the Minister for Finance the progress made to date on a wording for the referendum to protect whistleblowers; and if he intends to pursue a sectoral based or a central approach. [16789/11]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The Programme for Government contains a commitment to a referendum to protect the right of citizens to communicate in confidence with public representatives. In addition, there is a commitment that we will legislate and change Dáil standing orders to support the confidentiality of information entrusted to members of the Dáil by their constituents or informants. The Minister for Public Expenditure & Reform is currently developing proposals to address these commitments. Separately, the Programme for Government also has a commitment that the Government will introduce legislation to protect whistle-blowers. In this regard, the Government has decided to introduce overarching legislation providing for good faith reporting and protected disclosure on a uniform basis for all sectors of the economy. The Government has also decided to expedite the preparation of this legislation and the necessary preparatory work on drafting the legislation has begun in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. The draft legislation will be presented for enactment by the Houses of the Oireachtas in due course.