Ó An Roinn Caiteachais Phoiblí, Seachadta ar an bPlean Forbartha Náisiúnta, agus Athchóirithe
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The Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform, Paschal Donohoe, has today (Monday 20 November) published new Statutory Guidance for public bodies on the Protected Disclosures Act 2014, following on from the amendment of the Act last year.
The purpose of the Guidance is to assist public bodies in understanding their obligations under the Act and give practical advice as regards best practice in setting up and operating reporting channels for workers to raise concerns about wrongdoing in the workplace.
The new Guidance builds on the Interim Guidance published last year and includes template policies for public bodies to adapt and use in developing their internal reporting procedures and for prescribed persons to use in developing their external reporting procedures.
The Guidance also emphasises the importance of organisational culture, ethics and integrity as a key determining factor in how successful a protected disclosure channel will operate in practice.
Welcoming the publication of the Guidance, Minister Donohoe said:
“Ireland has one of the strongest whistleblower protection laws in world but what really matters is how the legislation operates in practice. This Statutory Guidance is intended to help leaders and managers in the public sector understand their obligations under the legislation and how to go about implementing an effective process for handling protected disclosures in their organisations.”
The Minister went on to say:
“Formal standards – such as the Act and this Guidance – form only a part of the overall picture, however. More than anything, it is the ethos and culture of an organisation that determines whether the concerns of workers are listened to and acted upon. Leaders of organisations – in both the public and private sectors – must rise to the challenge of creating and maintaining an environment of openness and integrity in their workplaces.”
All public bodies regardless of size must have internal reporting channels. In the private sector all companies with 250 or more employees must also have these internal channels. With effect from 17 December, this threshold will fall to 50 employees.
Minister Donohoe said:
“While the Guidance is targeted at the public sector, much of the content is also applicable to the private sector. It is my hope that private sector organisations will also find this Guidance useful in respect of those provisions of the Act that apply to them."
The Minister has also signed an Order updating the list of prescribed persons that workers can contact to make external reports of wrongdoing in their sector. Prescribed persons are generally the heads of organisations with regulatory powers over a particular sector. Prescribed persons can receive and take action on disclosures from workers who do not wish to report suspected wrongdoing internally to their employer or who have already reported to their employer but no action or insufficient action was taken.
Minister Donohoe said:
“It is important to have a broad range of appropriate prescribed persons to whom workers can report if they don’t want to raise their concerns with their employer or they have raised concerns and no action or insufficient action has been taken. This Order ensures that the list of prescribed persons reflects recent changes in the regulatory environment.
"My department will operate an ongoing rolling review of the list of prescribed persons, monitoring changes to the remits of existing prescribed persons and the establishment of new bodies with regulatory functions to ensure this list is kept up to date into the future."
The Protected Disclosures Act 2014 provides statutory protections against penalisation for workers who raise concerns about wrongdoing in the workplace. The Act was substantially strengthened and expanded in 2022 by the Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Act 2022. The Act applies to both the public and private sector.
Under the Act, workers can raise concerns either internally with their employer or externally with a prescribed person (usually a relevant sectoral regulator) or the Protected Disclosures Commissioner. Workers in the public sector may also make a protected disclosure to a relevant Minister. As a last resort, and subject to more stringent conditions, a worker may go public with their concerns.
The Act requires that all public sector bodies must have internal channels for their workers to report wrongdoing. The Act also requires all prescribed persons to have external channels for workers in the sectors they regulate to report wrongdoing. Internal and external reporting channels must provide for acknowledgement of all reports within 7 days; diligent follow-up on the report by the recipient; and the provision of feedback to the reporting person on actions taken or expected to be taken within 3 months. The Guidance published today explains these requirements in detail and sets out best practice in establishing and operating these reporting channels.
The new Guidance supersedes the Interim Guidance published last year in the wake of the enactment of the Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Act 2022. Section 21 of the Protected Disclosures Act provides that the Minister may issue guidance to assist public bodies in the performance of their functions under the Act and that public bodies shall have regard to this Guidance.
In the private sector, under the amended Act, all companies with 250 or more employees are currently required to provide internal channels for their workers to report wrongdoing. These channels must also provide for acknowledgement, follow-up and feedback, same as the public sector. With effect from 17 December, the threshold requiring the establishment of internal channels in the private sector will fall to 50 employees. Failure to establish channels is a criminal offence.
Section 7 of the Act provides that a worker can report a relevant wrongdoing to an appropriate person prescribed by the Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform. Prescribed persons tend to be regulatory authorities with oversight powers over a particular sector – for example, HIQA, the Central Bank and the Health & Safety Authority are prescribed persons. A full list of prescribed persons, with contact details, is available at: www.gov.ie/prescribed-persons.
The Minister has signed an Order - SI 524 of 2003 - updating the list of prescribed persons. This Order adds one new prescribed person; updates the designations of eight existing prescribed persons; and removes two prescribed persons. These changes bring the total number of prescribed persons to 108. The changes are: