Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 2 May 2017
247. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance his views on whether the whistleblower procedures for banks and other financial institutions are sufficiently strong and that they give adequate protection to whistleblowers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19595/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra248. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance the number of whistleblowers' allegations currently being examined by the Central Bank; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19596/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra249. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance if the Central Bank has considered re-examining historic evidence and allegations from whistleblowers in view of the new legal and ethical rules in place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19597/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 247 to 249, inclusive, together.
New protections for persons making protected disclosures to the Central Bank came into force on 1 August 2013. This also introduced new obligations on certain categories of persons in regulated firms to disclose breaches of financial services legislation to the Central Bank. The Central Bank has established a whistleblower desk and put in place policies and procedures to ensure that such disclosures are dealt with appropriately.
In broad terms, where a person makes a disclosure in good faith to the Central Bank or one of its employees, and the person making the disclosure has reasonable grounds for believing that the disclosure will show that there has been a breach of, or offence under, financial services legislation or the concealment or destruction of evidence relating to such an offence or breach and provides their name, the disclosure is a protected disclosure.
The EU Regulation establishing the Single Supervisory Mechanism, which formally commenced on 4 November 2014, includes a provision in respect of reporting of breaches, i.e. whistleblower reports, which relate to those banks directly supervised by the European Central Bank. Persons with information on potential breaches of EU law by banks and/or by competent authorities, including the Central Bank of Ireland, can report such breaches to the ECB.
I am satisfied that whistleblower procedures for banks and other financial institutions are robust and that they give adequate protection to whistleblowers. All allegations from whistleblowers are treated seriously and examined thoroughly irrespective of which legislative protections apply. It is a valuable channel for the Central Bank to receive reports in a confidential form.
Any individual who has new information regarding a previous allegation is welcome to contact the Bank again with this new information.
The Central Bank is currently considering approximately 50 whistleblower allegations.
