I propose to take Questions Nos. 248 and 249 together.
As required under the relevant legislation, my Department has a Protected Disclosures Policy in place under which a staff member who wishes to make a protected disclosure may do so to any of the following confidential recipients:
- an independent confidential service engaged for this purpose,
- the Head of the Internal Audit Unit in the Department, or
- any member of the Department’s Management Board.
Contact details for all of the above confidential recipients, as well as procedures for making a protected disclosure, are contained in the policy document which has been circulated to all staff and which is also available on the Department's intranet.
The recipient carries out an initial review to establish whether the case meets the criteria for a Protected Disclosure. If it meets the criteria, the case is then assigned to a senior official who will take the appropriate action, for instance an investigation, depending on the subject matter of the case.
With one exception, all the Protected Disclosures have been investigated by senior DAFM officials who have had no previous involvement in the matters being disclosed. In one case, in order to avoid any conflict of interest, an outside consultancy has been asked to carry out the investigation.
Due to the confidentiality of the protected disclosures process, details are not retained centrally as to whether the discloser is a current or former member of staff.
The numbers and status of Protected Disclosures received in the Department to date are:
Year
|
Number
|
Current Status
|
2017
|
2
|
All closed
|
2018
|
1
|
One case ongoing (pending final follow up meeting which has had to be postponed during 2020 due to Covid-related public health restrictions)
|
2019
|
2
|
All closed
|
2020
|
4*
|
At the end of 2020 one case had been closed and three were on going (one of which was finalised in March 2021)
|
2021
|
Nil
|
None received yet. However, there can be a delay between receiving information, establishing that it is a protected disclosure and recording it as such.
|
*One of the four cases counted for 2020 was received in 2018 but was not acted on due to the discloser withdrawing another protected disclosure covering the same topic. Following an internal review of the matter in 2020, the Department commenced an investigation into the disclosure.
The Department is committed to taking action should evidence of wrongdoing be found on foot of an investigation arising from a Protected Disclosure.