Protected Disclosures

Tuesday, 17 June 2025

Questions (189, 190)

Cian O'Callaghan

Question:

189. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Transport if he will outline his responsibilities relating to the Protected Disclosures Act 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31806/25]

View answer

Cian O'Callaghan

Question:

190. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Transport if he will outline his responsibilities relating to EU Directive 2019/1937; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31807/25]

View answer

Written answers

Minister for Transport

I propose to take Questions Nos. 189 and 190 together.

I propose to take PQs 31806/25 and 31807/25 together.

The EU Directive 2019/1937 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law was adopted on 23 October 2019 and sets minimum standards for the protection of whistleblowers across the EU. This Directive was transposed by the Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Act 2022. The transposition deadline for the Directive was 17 December 2021.

The Protected Disclosures Act was enacted in 2014. This legislation was further enhanced by the Protected Disclosures Amendment Act 2022 (the 2022 Act) which commenced in full on 1 January 2023.

The 2022 Act provides statutory protections for workers. It protects workers from penalisation for speaking up about wrongdoing in the workplace. Persons who make protected disclosures – often referred to as “whistleblowers” – should not be treated unfairly or lose their job or face legal proceedings because they have made a protected disclosure.Protected disclosures can be made by workers in the both the public and private sectors. This includes, not only ordinary employees of an organisation, but also any persons engaged under contract by the organisation, such as contractors, agency workers and paid trainees as well as volunteers, board members, shareholders and job applicants.

There are three main channels for making a protected disclosure open to all workers:

(i) Internal disclosure to the employer:

(ii) External disclosure to a person prescribed by the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation (PEIPSRD) or the Protected Disclosures Commissioner. Prescribed persons are usually regulatory bodies with powers to investigate and take enforcement action in relation to wrongdoing in a particular sector (for example, the Health & Safety Authority, HIQA and the Data Protection Commission are all prescribed bodies); and

(iii) Disclosure to any other third party – this could include public disclosure to a journalist or a member of the Oireachtas. This channel is subject to more stringent conditions to qualify for protection. In general, this channel should only be used as a last resort if the other channels fail to operate as intended.

Under section 8 of the Amended Act, workers in public bodies can make a protected disclosure to a relevant Minister of the Government. Under the amended Act, all protected disclosures made to the Minister for Transport will be sent to the Protected Disclosures Commissioner for onward transmission to the most appropriate person to address the concern raised.

Section 8.6 of the https://assets.gov.ie/static/documents/statutory-guidance-document.pdf provides further information on all reporting channels including disclosures to Ministers.

Question No. 190 answered with Question No. 189.