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EU Directives

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 25 March 2021

Thursday, 25 March 2021

Questions (52)

Catherine Murphy

Question:

52. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the details of his Department's engagement with the European Commission on the proposal for a directive for the protection of whistle-blowers; and the timeline in respect of transposition of the directive. [16060/21]

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Written answers

Directive (EU) 2019/1937 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law ("the Whistleblowing Directive") was adopted by the European Council and Parliament on 23 October 2019. Ireland is one of just 10 EU Member States to already have comprehensive whistleblowing laws in place, in the form of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014, and is considered a leading country in this field - most recently, the International Bar Association rated Ireland joint second in the world for the protections it provides to whistleblowers in a report published earlier this month. Ireland has endeavoured to share its experiences from the implementation of the Act with the European Commission and fellow Member States throughout the process of development, negotiation and implementation of the Directive.

The first formal proposals for the Whistleblowing Directive were published by the Commission in April 2018. Prior to this, officials from my Department provided input into a number of questionnaires and workshops run by the Commission, which helped inform its thinking in developing these proposals. Officials from my Department were also involved throughout the process of negotiating the final text of the Directive through regular attendance at meetings of the Working Party on Fundamental Rights, Citizens Rights and Free Movement of Persons (FREMP) throughout 2018 and 2019. Since the Directive was adopted, officials from my Department have been active participants in the Commission Expert Group established to assist Member States transposing the Directive. Officials have also been in direct biliateral communication with the Commission on numerous occasions regarding various technical matters relating to Ireland's transposition of the Directive. These engagements will continue throughout the transposition process. 

The deadline for transposition of the Directive is 17 December 2021. A public consultation on the areas of the Directive where Ireland has discretion as regards implementation was held last year. Work on an initial draft of the transposing legislation is at an advanced stage and will be published later in the year with a view to enactment in advance of the deadline set by the Commission.

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