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Protected Disclosures Act: Information for Citizens and Public Bodies
From Department of Public Expenditure and Reform
Published on
Last updated on
The Protected Disclosures Act 2014 protects workers in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors from retaliation if they speak up about wrongdoing in the workplace. Workers can report wrongdoing internally to their employer or externally to a third party, such as a prescribed person Persons who make protected disclosures (sometimes referred to as “whistleblowers”) are protected by law – they should not be treated unfairly or lose their job because they have made a protected disclosure.
Information about what wrongdoings can be reported as protected disclosures, how to make a protected disclosure and how to obtain protection from penalisation for having made a protected disclosure can be found at Citizen’s Information .
In addition, Transparency International Ireland run a free Speak Up Helpline and Legal Advice Centre for people who have made or are considering making a protected disclosure.
The protections contained in the Protected Disclosures Act remain in fully place during the Covid-19 pandemic. All public service bodies are advised to review and update (if required) their protected disclosures procedures to ensure their reporting channels continue to operate as best as they can. Bodies are also advised to engage proactively with reporting persons to reassure them that their concerns are being dealt with seriously and explain any issues arising from the current situation that may be affecting the response to their disclosure.
If a worker decides to make a protected disclosure to a prescribed person rather than their employer, they must make sure you have chosen the correct person for the wrongdoing they wish to report. To assist in this regard, please refer to the current list of prescribed persons.
Such disclosures must be made to the Hon. Mr Justice John D. Cooke, retired judge of the High Court, who has been appointed by the Taoiseach as the Disclosures Recipient.
The office of the Disclosures Recipient is located at: 1st, Floor St. Stephen’s Green House, Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2, D02 PH42.
A disclosure of information within the terms of Section 18 of the Protected Disclosures Act may be made to the Disclosures Recipient either (i) In writing in a sealed envelope marked “Confidential: For Attention of the Addressee Only” posted or delivered to the above address: or (ii) In person by appointment with the Disclosures Recipient, made by e-mail: protected.disclosure@confidentialrecipient.gov.ie .
Under section 21(1) of the Act, all public bodies are required to establish and maintain procedures for the making of protected disclosures by their employees. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has issued guidance to assist public bodies in this regard.
The Workplace Relations Commission has published a statutory code of practice on the Protected Disclosures Act for employers in the public and private sectors.
An EU Directive harmonising protections for whistleblowers who report breaches of EU law was adopted on 23 October 2019. The Directive must be transposed into Irish law by 17 December 2021. A public consultation on the areas where Ireland has discretion as regards implementation of the Directive was carried out between June and July 2020. The submissions received will feed into the process of amending the Protected Disclosures Act to transpose the Directive.
As required under section 2 of the legislation, a statutory review of the impact and effectiveness of the Act was carried out and published in July 2018. As part of the review process, a public consultation was carried out from August to October 2017 to elicit views regarding the operation of the Act. 25 submissions were received, which informed the findings of the review.
