Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 July 2019
1223. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Health the number of protected disclosures submitted to his Department by year since 2010; the number accepted; and the number from employees in the HSE or other health-related services. [32164/19]
View answerSection 22 of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 requires each public body to publish an annual report setting out the number of protected disclosures received in the preceding year and the action taken (if any). All annual reports for my Department are published on our website and can be found at: https://health.gov.ie/contact-us/protected-disclosures/ - these set out the number of protected disclosures received in each year.
Since the legislation was introduced in 2014 and covering the period 1 July 2014 to 31 December 2018, a total of 60 protected disclosures were submitted to my Department. All were made under Section 6 or Section 8 of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014. This means the disclosures were not from employees of my Department and instead related to a worker or workers employed in a public body under my Department's remit.
Nineteen of the disclosures, when assessed, did not meet the criteria as set out under the Act.
