John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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361. To ask the Minister for Health the process in 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 in 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. [15077/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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In keeping with the requirements of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 and also in accordance with the Guidance provided by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, my Department has developed Protected Disclosure Policy and Procedures for staff, to advise them on the approach to take when seeking to make a protected disclosure under the Act, or on how to respond on receipt of a protected disclosure from a body under my aegis.

Protected disclosures received are always reported to the Secretary General in the first instance and assessed or investigated by a person at Principal Officer grade or above - none of the disclosures received related to the persons who investigated them.

Under Section 22 of the 2014 Act each Department must publish an annual report by 30 June each year on the number of disclosures received in the preceding year. My Department's first report, which is published on its website, was for the period 1 July 2014 - 31 December 2015 and it stated that 3 protected disclosures were made to my Department in that period.