Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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164. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his views on reports showing that Irish employees of American multinationals based here can receive a monetary reward for reporting fraud offences within their workplace; his further views on the fact that 51 Irish citizens have provided information under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act 1977 between 2011 and 2015; his views on the fact that financial incentives based on this scheme have been paid to 21 Irish citizens; if he will replicate this US anti-corruption innovation in keeping with some of his other strategic decisions; and if his officials have produced any reports, analysis or projections pertaining to such a scheme. [28860/16]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I am aware that the legal framework in some countries, notably the United States, provides monetary rewards in certain circumstances for whistle-blowers. In so far as this is intended to compensate for the likely financial losses that whistle-blowers face because of their disclosures, our legislation has a different emphasis. In the Protected Disclosures Act 2014, we have provided a range of robust protections against any penalisation, financial or otherwise, suffered as a result of having disclosed wrongdoing observed in the workplace. Our approach has been to create a supportive environment to allow for disclosures of wrongdoing to be made in the public interest rather than providing financial incentives for whistle-blowing, which may lead to moral or other hazards such as, for example, malicious reporting, entrapment and conflicts of interest in court proceedings.

Section 2 of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 provides for the legislation to be reviewed after three years of operation and my Department will commence such a review in 2017. This will be a suitable opportunity to further consider the matters referred to in the Deputy's question, in particular whether direct financial incentives for whistle-blowers are appropriate in an Irish statutory context.