Mairéad Farrell
Ceist:285. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Defence the number of protected disclosures made to him concerning his Department and bodies under its aegis in 2018, 2019 and 2020. [59907/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 7 December 2021
Ceisteanna (285)
Freagraí scríofa
In accordance with the terms of section 22 of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 an annual report in relation to the total number of protected disclosures made in the preceding year is prepared and published on the departmental web site. This report is required to be prepared and published not later than 30 June in each year in relation to the immediately preceding year in a form which does not enable the identification of the persons involved. The report contains:
(a) the number of protected disclosures made to the public body,
(b) the action (if any) taken in response to those protected disclosures, and
(c) such other information relating to those protected disclosures and the action taken as may be requested by the Minister from time to time.
The following table details the numbers received in the years 2018 - 2020 inclusive.
|
Year |
Number of Disclosures |
|
2018 |
4 |
|
2019 |
4 |
|
2020 |
12 |
These numbers relate to the total number of disclosures made to the Defence Organisation and it is not broken down further into the location of the discloser in keeping with the confidentiality requirements specified in the 2014 Act. The making of a disclosure by a member of a formation does not necessarily mean that the disclosure relates to that formation. No Civil Servant in the Department of Defence has made a protected disclosure.
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 comment on specific detail that may identify a Discloser. Information disclosed to me relates to a broad range of issues including administrative, financial, regulatory and health and safety issues. This latter category includes bullying and harrassment.