Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 20 January 2022
45. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will implement the recommendations of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach in view of the committee's report on the Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2021; if he will remove the regressive clauses that were identified by the committee; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2682/22]
View answerLegislation to amend the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 to provide for the transposition of EU Directive 2019/1937 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law ("the Whistleblowing Directive") is at an advanced stage of preparation and will be published shortly.
The Pre-legislative Scrutiny Report on the draft general scheme of the Bill, prepared by the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform and Taoiseach, has been received and its contents are being considered. I would like to thank the Committee for the significant amount of work they have put into the scrutiny of this important issue.
The recommendations of the Report will be taken into careful consideration in the process of finalising the Bill for publication and during its passage through the Oireachtas. A number of recommendations have been incorporated into the text of the Bill, which will go to Cabinet for approval shortly. There are also a number of recommendations which require further consideration with the Attorney General. Given that the date for the transposition of the Directive has now passed and in order not to further delay the publication of the Bill, I have decided that, depending on the outcome of deliberations with the Attorney General, these outstanding issues can be addressed by Committee Stage amendments if required.
