The Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022 (the Bill), which will transpose the EU Whistleblowing Directive (Whistleblowing Directive), was published last month and amends and extends the existing Irish framework for the protection of whistle-blowers under the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 (the 2014 Act). There is some impetus to the adoption of the Bill as Ireland, along with many other EU Member States, has missed the December 2021 deadline for transposition of the Whistleblowing Directive. Our previous article on the general scheme for the Bill is available here.
Extended Scope
Under the 2014 Act, whistle-blower protection is limited to information that comes to a worker's attention "in connection with the worker's employment". The Bill extends the scope of protection by expanding the definition of "worker" to include volunteers, shareholders, trainees, board members (including non-executive members), and job applicants. Notably, the Bill states that persons who make anonymous disclosures are still protected if their identity is subsequently revealed and they suffer penalisation, however, recipients of anonymous disclosures are not obliged to accept and follow up on them.
Relevant Wrongdoing
"Relevant wrongdoings" are the types of wrongdoing about which an individual may make a protected disclosure. The Bill expands the definition of a relevant wrongdoing under the 2014 Act to include a 'breach', defined as an act or omission that is unlawful and falls within the...
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