Law also to protect right to ‘social identity’ in adoptions incorrectly or illegally registered

Minister for Public Expenditure Michael McGrath: will seek approval to publish the Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2021, which the Coalition hopes will be passed into law by summer. Photograph: Gareth Chaney/Collins

Companies with more than 50 workers will have to establish formal channels for whistleblowers to come forward, under new laws set to be approved by Cabinet on Tuesday.

Minister for Public Expenditure Michael McGrath will seek approval to publish the Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2021, which the Coalition hopes will be passed into law by the summer.

The Bill, to be considered by Cabinet when it meets at Dublin Castle on Tuesday morning, requires private sector organisations with 50 or more employees to establish formal channels and procedures for their employees to make protected disclosures, as is the case currently in the public sector.

It also reverses the “burden of proof” when a worker takes a case alleging penalisation for making a protected disclosure to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) or to the courts. Under the Bill, the presumption will be that an alleged act of penalisation occurred because the worker made a protected disclosure, unless the employer can prove otherwise.

Protected disclosure

Protections will be expanded beyond traditional employment relationships to include volunteers, unpaid trainees, board members, shareholders,...

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