The Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022 (the Bill), which transposes the EU Whistleblowing Directive into Irish law, has now passed all stages of the Irish legislative process and is due to be signed into law by the President. It is expected that a commencement order will issue shortly after that.
In our briefing, the EU Whistleblowing Directive: Blowing the whistle means added compliance for employers we outlined in detail the main provisions of the Bill and what it will mean for employers.
While the final text of the Bill is very similar to the initial draft, the following are some amendments of note:
Transitional measures
A new Schedule 7 will provide for transitional measures. These include the potential application of protection measures under the new regime in respect of:
i. protected disclosures made under the old regime, but where penalisation occurs after the commencement of the new regime, and
ii. where penalisation occurs under the old regime but proceedings are brought after commencement of the new regime.
Provision of feedback
The Bill outlines detailed procedures for reporting channels involving diligent followup and the provision of feedback to the reporting person within three months.
Pursuant to an amendment to the Bill, the reporting person may now request in writing the provision of ongoing feedback. This feedback must be given at intervals of three months until the procedure relating to the report concerned is closed.
External reporting channels...
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