Vol. 542 No. 5
170 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the progress made by her Department and in the Attorney General's office on the Bill to protect whistleblowers; and when this legislation will be presented to Dáil Éireann. [24961/01]
Since its introduction in the Dáil on 15 June 1999, the Whistleblowers Protection Bill 1999, has been circulated to Departments on two occasions with a view to making it a more comprehensive Bill. The observations of Departments have been crystallised into almost 50 amendments which were approved by Government in July last and referred to the Office of the Attorney General on 2 August for finalisation in legal form as a matter of urgency. However, due to pressure of work on other priority legislation, the Attorney General's office has not been in a position to progress the matter to date and does not expect to be able to do so before the end of November at the earliest. On receipt of these amendments, I will seek Dáil time to proceed with the Committee Stage of the Bill as soon as possible.
