Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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44. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the steps he will take to improve the whistleblowing regime and to increase the accountability of the civil service and broader public service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2656/22]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Programme for Government commits to use the opportunity of EU consideration of reforms to European-wide whistleblowing provisions to review, update and reform our whistleblowing legislation and ensure it remains as effective as possible. Transposition of the EU Whistleblowing Directive (Directive 2019/1937 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law) will require amendments to the Protected Disclosures Act 2014.  The General Scheme of a Bill to give effect to the transposition was published on 12 May 2021. The Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Taoiseach has recently completed its pre-legislative scrutiny of the General Scheme and I am considering the recommendations in its report. I hope to bring the text of the Bill to Government for approval and publication in the coming weeks.

Some of the enhancements to the protected disclosures regime that will be provided for in the Bill will include: an expanded personal scope to include volunteers, shareholders, board members and job applicants; an obligation on private sector organisations with 50 or more employees to have formal whistleblowing systems; a requirement on internal and external recipients of protected disclosures to acknowledge, follow-up and give feedback in respect of all reports received; an extension of the interim relief provisions in the Act to cover acts of penalisation other than dismissal; and the reversal of the burden of proof in civil proceedings concerning penalisation. With these amendments, the

new legislation will go further in safeguarding protections for those who report wrongdoing.

In addition, in order to further enhance and improve the implementation of the legislation, a Protected Disclosures Commissioner in the Office of the Ombudsman will be established. They will assist reporting persons in ensuring that external reports get to the right prescribed person or where there is no prescribed person, they will take on responsibility for following up on the report directly ensuring there is a person to receive and follow-up on all external reports of wrongdoing. The Commissioner will also refer protected disclosures sent to Ministers of the Government to the most appropriate authority to assess and follow them up. 

Alongside this legislation, my Department will be issuing updated statutory guidance for public service bodies to coincide with the enactment of the Bill. This will support a high-level and consistent approach to protected disclosures and how they are handled. The next generation of the Training Framework for public sector staff responsible for handling Protected Disclosures is also in the process of being put in place.

Taken together, all of these measures will significantly strengthen and enhance the statutory protections for whistleblowers in Ireland. 

Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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45. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will implement the recommendations of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach in view of the committee's report on the Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2021; if he will remove the regressive clauses that were identified by the committee; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2682/22]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Legislation to amend the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 to provide for the transposition of EU Directive 2019/1937 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law ("the Whistleblowing Directive") is at an advanced stage of preparation and will be published shortly.

The Pre-legislative Scrutiny Report on the draft general scheme of the Bill, prepared by the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform and Taoiseach, has been received and its contents are being considered. I would like to thank the Committee for the significant amount of work they have put into the scrutiny of this important issue. 

The recommendations of the Report will be taken into careful consideration in the process of finalising the Bill for publication and during its passage through the Oireachtas. A number of recommendations have been incorporated into the text of the Bill, which will go to Cabinet for approval shortly. There are also a number of recommendations which require further consideration with the Attorney General. Given that the date for the transposition of the Directive has now passed and in order not to further delay the publication of the Bill, I have decided that, depending on the outcome of deliberations with the Attorney General, these outstanding issues can be addressed by Committee Stage amendments if required.