Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 June 2021
123. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the analysis his Department has carried out into the question of ensuring that local elected representatives will be covered by protections for whistleblowers under the forthcoming legislation transposing the EU whistleblowing directive into law; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32126/21]
View answerDirective (EU) 2019/1937 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law ("the Whistleblowing Directive") was adopted in October 2019 and Ireland has until 17 December 2021 to transpose it into Irish law. Ireland already has comprehensive whistleblower protection legislation in place in the form of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014. Transposition of the Directive will require amendments to the 2014 Act.
In this regard, on 12 May 2021, following approval from Government, I published the General Scheme of a Bill to amend the Protected Disclosures Act to give effect to the Directive. My officials are now working with officials in the Office of the Attorney General on the drafting of the Bill. The General Scheme as also been referred to the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform and Taoiseach for pre-legislative scrutiny. In this regard, the Committee held a preliminary hearing with representatives from Transparency International Ireland, academia and the media on 27 May.
The Protected Disclosures Act already provides protections from retaliation for workers in the public and private sectors who speak up about wrongdoing in the workplace. The proposals I have set out in the General Scheme will - in accordance with the requirements of the Directive - provide for the extension of the personal scope of the Act to volunteers and also shareholders, board members and job applicants.
The question the Deputy raises as to the application of the Directive to local elected representatives is a legally complex matter and I have referred it to the Attorney General for his views. I await his reply, which then feed into consideration of this matter during the drafting process.
