THE GARDA WATCHDOG has called on Government to pass legislation that will give greater protections to whistleblowers and provide for a new dedicated office to handle complaints.
The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) will host the two day virtual conference of the Network of European Integrity and Whistleblowing Authorities (NEIWA) later today.
It is set to call on the Irish State to immediately bring EU protections into Irish law to protect people who speak up.
GSOC handles all protected disclosures from embers and staff of An Garda Síochána but it has asked Government to provide the legislation which will provide a specialist office to handle the complaints.
The outgoing chair of the body, judge Mary Ellen Ring, will call on the Government to pass the Irish legislation which will give power to the EU protections.
“GSOC has had extensive experience of building a protected disclosure infrastructure from the ground up, and has had the honour of sharing its experience and expertise with colleagues across the EU,” she will say.
“The framework of standards for whistleblowers provided for in the new EU Directive will transform how members of the public and employees can safely and confidentially call out wrong doing by organisations and individuals in positions of authority.”
Ring will also say that her office has been lobbying the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) to finalise the legislation expeditiously.
“Drawing on our own experience setting up a protected disclosures system, GSOC has actively engaged with DPER over the past two years in their development of Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2021.
“We are pleased that this legislation is significantly progressed, but would emphasise the importance of finalising it as swiftly as possible in order to meet Ireland’s obligations under the Directive.
“GSOC looks forward to engaging further with DPER on the legislation, and to further engagement with its sister organisations across Europe as a member of NEIWA as we follow the practical implementation of the Directive by member states over the coming months.”
It is expected that a ‘Dublin Declaration’ by NEIWA, underscoring the importance of aligning member states’ whistleblowing standards to the new directive, will be published after the conference.
The EU directive would compel Irish companies and public bodies with 250 or more employees to implement an internal reporting system for complaints.
From 2023, this will reduce to companies and public bodies with 50 or more employees – and critically the directive provides that whistle-blowers will be protected from dismissal.
EU member states must establish clear procedures and reporting channels in domestic law to ensure the provisions of the directive are met, and that all the protections are provided for.
Governments must also put into place effective sanctions for failure to adhere to the directive’s standards, or failure to protect whistleblowers.
The Draft Bill, which will enact the directive in Ireland, has been undergoing pre-legislative scrutiny in the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform.
GSOC said they have been engaging with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform on the process, including through provision on views on the draft bill and by way of submission to the Oireachtas Joint Committee.
A core provision of the Bill is the proposed establishment of a new ‘Protected Disclosures Office’ in the Office of the Ombudsman.
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