Skip to main content
Normal View

Protected Disclosures

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 January 2018

Tuesday, 30 January 2018

Questions (163)

Pearse Doherty

Question:

163. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance his plans to amend whistleblower legislation to allow whistleblowers in financial institutions to benefit financially from their whistleblowing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53264/17]

View answer

Written answers

Whistleblowers who are employees in financial institutions would fall within the definition of “Workers” in the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 and therefore would most likely be considered under the 2014 Act as opposed to under the whistleblowing protections of the Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2013.

The main objective of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 is the protection of workers in all sectors of the economy – both public and private – against reprisals in circumstances where they make a disclosure of information relating to wrongdoing in the workplace. 

It provides for a “stepped” disclosure regime in which a number of distinct disclosure channels are available – internal, “regulatory” and external – which the worker can access to acquire important employment protections but which require different evidential thresholds.  

The Act seeks to safeguard the broadest possible range of workers from being subject to occupational detriment for having made a protected disclosure and also provides for immunity against civil liability. Disclosures made under existing sectorial legislation are given “protected disclosure” status to ensure a uniform standard of protection to all workers.

Three forms of protection are available under the Act:

1. Protection from the retributive actions of an employer

2. Protection from civil liability

3. Protection from victimisation by a third party

The Act provides an impetus for employers to mitigate against the risk of whistleblowing in the first instance through the introduction of risk management strategies which allow workers to report perceived wrongdoing so that corrective action is taken before significant threats to the business arise. The encouragement of workers to report perceived wrongdoing on a no-fault basis will mitigate against the potential for external whistleblowing and consequent reputational damage.

The legal framework in some countries, most notably the United States, provides monetary rewards in certain circumstances for whistle-blowers. In so far as this is intended to compensate for the likely financial losses that whistle-blowers face because of their disclosures, our legislation has a different emphasis. In the Protected Disclosures Act 2014, we have provided a range of robust protections against any penalisation, financial or otherwise, suffered as a result of having disclosed wrongdoing observed in the workplace. Our approach has been to create a supportive environment to allow for disclosures of wrongdoing to be made in the public interest rather than providing financial incentives for whistle-blowing, which may lead to moral or other hazards such as, for example, malicious reporting, entrapment and conflicts of interest in court proceedings.

The Protected Disclosures Act 2014 does not make any provision for rewarding workers who speak up about an alleged wrongdoing.

There is no specific prohibition on rewarding a whistleblower who raises a concern using the channels provided under Sections 6, 7 and 8 of the Act.* Section 10 of the Act, which concerns disclosure of information to an external party, e.g. a journalist, member of the Oireachtas etc., expressly forbids the disclosure of information for personal gain unless a reward is provided for in another enactment.

Section 2 of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 provides that a review of the Act must commence three years following the Act coming into force and that said review be completed within 12 months. The Statutory Review of the Act is being carried out by the Department of Public Expenditure & Reform and commenced in summer 2017. In accordance with Section 2 of the Act, it must be completed and published by 8 July 2018.

In order to inform the review of the Act, the Department of Public Expenditure & Reform opened a public consultation on the operation of Act in August 2017. The consultation closed on 10 October 2017. Some 25 submissions have been received from a range of organisations and individuals.

Rewarding workers who make protected disclosures has not emerged as a significant issue in the submissions made to the public consultation, with only one of the 25 submissions received suggesting it would be a good idea.

The Department is in the process of evaluating the submissions it has received, which will feed into the review of the Act and any recommendations arising. When completed the review will be submitted to Government for consideration in advance of publication. It would not be appropriate, at this stage, to pre-empt what findings and recommendations may or may not come out of the review.

*The disclosure channels under these sections are as follows:

Section 6 – disclosure to the worker’s employer

Section 7 – disclosure to a prescribed person/organisation (usually a regulator – e.g. the Central Bank)

Section 8 – disclosure by a worker in a public body to a Minister

Top
Share