Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 February 2017
159. Deputy Michael Collins asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if a disclosure can be made by a member of the public regarding the Courts Service of Ireland under the Protected Disclosures Act 2014. [10240/17]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, under the provisions of the Courts Service Act 1998, management of the courts is the responsibility of the Courts Service which is independent in exercising its functions, which include the provision of information on the courts system.
However, in order to be of assistance to the Deputy, I have had enquiries made and the Courts Service has informed me that the remit of Protected Disclosures Act 2014 does not allow for a member of the public to make a protected disclosure in respect of public bodies such as the Courts Service.
The Protected Disclosures Act 2014 is intended to provide a robust statutory framework within which workers can raise concerns regarding potential wrongdoing that has come to their attention in the workplace in the knowledge that they can avail of significant employment and other protections if they are penalised by their employer or suffer any detriment for doing so. Under the Act, a worker is defined as an employee or former employee of the body in question; a protected disclosure is defined as a disclosure of information which, in the reasonable belief of the worker, tends to show one or more relevant wrongdoings which came to the attention of the worker in connection with the worker’s employment and is made by the worker in accordance with the Act.
The Courts Service has also informed me that it has a formal complaints procedure in place to deal with complaints received from customers and a Customer Complaints Form is available on the Courts Service website - www.courts.ie. Furthermore, with regard to the performance of its administrative functions, the Courts Service is subject to review by the Office of the Ombudsman who can investigate complaints made by members of the public.
