Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 November 2022
475. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Defence the number of protected disclosures and internal complaints made by members of the Defence Forces in the past ten years; the number that remain open; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54516/22]
View answer476. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Defence the number of protected disclosures or internal complaints made by members of the Defence Forces in which his Department found against the complainant and which were subsequently upheld in the WRC, by year since 2010, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54517/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 475 and 476 together.
The current legislation pertaining to protected disclosures was enacted in 2014 and hence the detail relating to protected disclosures provided herein commences from that time.
The purpose of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 (the Act) is to provide a mechanism whereby workers can provide information in confidence to employers relating to relevant wrongdoings as set out in the Act. It also protects persons from the taking of action against them in respect of the making of certain disclosures in the public interest. In the case of members of the Defence Forces, the Ombudsman for the Defence Forces is empowered to investigate their claims of penalisation.
The Act does not set out a process by which information provided by way of a protected disclosure should be investigated. The process adopted, broadly speaking, is one of assessing whether the information provided meets the criteria of the Act and then assessing the best method to investigate the alleged wrong doing using either internal or external methods. A Discloser is not seen as a Complainant and the protected disclosure process does not involve investigating the Discloser or making findings against the Discloser.
The following table details the number of protected disclosures received in the years 2014 to date.
|
Year |
Number of Disclosures |
|
2014 |
2 |
|
2015 |
3 |
|
2016 |
2 |
|
2017 |
11 |
|
2018 |
4 |
|
2019 |
4 |
|
2020 |
12 |
|
2021 |
10 |
|
2022 (end of October) |
1 |
Of the total number received since 2014, fifteen remain open. Protected Disclosures can be classified as remaining open for a variety of reasons such as trying to establish whether the Discloser is a worker or information provided may also be linked to separate processes.
Section 16 of the Act provides that subject to exceptions, a person to whom a protected disclosure is made, and any person to whom a protected disclosure is referred in the performance of that person’s duties, shall not disclose to another person any information that might identify the person by whom the protected disclosure was made. On this basis, it would be inappropriate for me to give specific detail that may identify a Discloser.
The Deputy may be aware that with regard to internal complaints, there is a statutory process in place for redress of wrongs for serving members of the Defence Forces, which is enshrined in the Defence Act. I have no statutory role in the process for investigating complaints submitted under the process. I should also underline that this process is separate and distinct to the protected disclosures mechanism.
I am fully committed to compliance with the requirements of the Protected Disclosures Act, 2014 and to the protections contained in that Act.
