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Protected Disclosures Act: Information for Citizens and Public Bodies
From Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform
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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 this law, meaning they should not be treated unfairly or lose their job because they have made a protected disclosure.
It is strongly recommended that persons considering making a protected disclosure seek appropriate advice before doing so.
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 Citizens Information.
In addition, Transparency Ireland run a free Speak Up Helpline and Legal Advice Centre for people who have made or are considering making a protected disclosure.
Most workers will report wrongdoing in the first instance to their employer. All public sector employers are required to establish internal channels for their workers to make protected disclosures.
All private sector entities with 50 or more employees are also required to establish these internal channels.
All organisations subject to EU laws and regulations in the areas of financial services; prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing; transport safety; and safety of offshore gas and oil operations must establish internal channels regardless of size.
Failure to establish internal channels is a criminal offence.
If a worker decides to make a protected disclosure to a prescribed person rather than their employer, they must make sure they 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 .
Prescribed persons are required to establish formal external channels for workers in the areas they regulate to make protected disclosures.
The Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Act 2022 provides for the establishment of a new Office of the Protected Disclosures Commissioner.
Information and contact details for the Office of the Protected Disclosures Commissioner is available at www.opdc.ie .
Disclosures concerning security, defence, international relations and intelligence
Section 18 of the Protected Disclosures Act provides for the appointment of a current or former High Court Judge to receive reports of wrongdoing concerning security, defence, international relations and intelligence.
Retired Justice Peter Kelly has been appointed to this role by the Taoiseach.
Reports of wrongdoing concerning security, defence, international relations and intelligence can be sent by email to: protected.disclosure@confidentialrecipient.gov.ie or by post to:
Disclosures Recipient,
c/o Office of the Protected Disclosures Commissioner,
6 Earlsfort Terrace,
Dublin 2,
D02 W773
Section 21(1) of the Act provides that the Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform may issue guidance to public bodies to assist them in the performance of their functions under the Act.
The most recent Statutory Guidance was published in November 2023 and supersedes all earlier guidance.
The Guidance includes outline template internal and external protected disclosures policies for use by public bodies and prescribed persons. Editable versions of these templates in Microsoft Word format are also provided.
Section 22(1) of the Protected Disclosures Act provides that every public body, prescribed person and the Commissioner shall provide information to the Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform on the number of the reports made in each preceding calendar year. This information must be provided to the Minister by email to pdreporting@per.gov.ie by 1 March every year.
Two forms have been created for this purpose. Form PDA-1 is to be used by all public bodies to report on the number of disclosures made to them via their internal reporting channels. Form PDA-2 is to be used by all prescribed persons to report on the number of disclosures made to them via their external reporting channels. It is mandatory for all public bodies and prescribed persons to use these forms.
Detailed instructions on the completion of these forms can be found in section 14 of the Statutory Guidance.
Directive (EU) 2019/1937 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law was adopted in October 2019. The Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Act 2022 gives legal effect to the Directive in Ireland. A public consultation on the implementation of the Directive was carried out in June and July 2020. A Regulatory Impact Assessment on the proposed changes to the legislation was published when the Bill was introduced in February 2022.
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 and the subsequent drafting of the Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Act 2022.
A Statutory Review of the Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Act will be conducted and published on or before 21 July 2028.