Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 December 2014
256. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will provide protection for authorised officers who are not provided full protection under the whistleblowers' legislation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48198/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am satisfied that the Protected Disclosures Act, enacted earlier this year provides detailed and comprehensive protection for all workers. As the Deputy will be aware, the main objective of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 is to provide protection for workers who make disclosures of serious wrongdoing that come to their attention in the workplace. The term "worker" is broadly defined in the Act and provided a person falls within that definition they are entitled to seek to benefit from the protections set out in the Protected Disclosures legislation. The Deputy may wish to note, that where a worker is not an employee, a judicial mechanism through a right of action in tort has been put in place to securing redress where the worker experiences detriment for having made a protected disclosure, as under the legislation only an employee can apply for redress from a Rights Commissioner or the Labour Court.
An authorised officer appointed under legislation, therefore, benefits from all of the safeguards available under the Protected Disclosures Act, providing the disclosure met all the relevant conditions for a disclosure to be a protected disclosure, with the specific redress mechanism on which he or she relies being dependent on the nature of the particular contractual arrangements under which the authorised officer was appointed to his or her statutory role.
