John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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530. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the process within his Department for dealing with protected disclosures under the 2014 Act; if the examinations of such disclosures are carried out by an independent authority or persons other than those within the organisation to which the disclosure refers; the number of disclosures received by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15071/17]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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In line with the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 and with the support of Department of Public Expenditure and Reform guidelines, my Department's Protected Disclosure Policy sets out procedures for staff to report potential wrongdoing and to ensure that appropriate action is taken.

The Department has designated a number of Protected Disclosure Officers in the policy document.  The Department’s policy also notes, in accordance with the Act, that workers are entitled to make a disclosure to persons other than their employer in certain circumstances and when certain requirements are met. If having made a disclosure internally, the Department fails to act on the information disclosed, or the worker does not wish to avail of the internal disclosure channel, they may seek to make their disclosure externally through a number of channels set out in the policy.

The Protected Disclosures Policy was circulated to all staff in my Department and is available to staff on the Department's intranet. The policy is currently under review to take account of developments in this area since the 2014 Act came into force.

My Department has not to date received any notifications under the Protected Disclosures Act 2014.