I understand the Minister’s position. I hope the information campaign will contribute to that momentum.

I move amendment No. 15: In page 13, line 14, to delete “or”. Amendment No. 15 is a technical amendment to ensure the subsequent amendments are grammatically correct. Amendment No. 16 seeks to bring more accountability. The 50-employee threshold for the creation of internal reporting channels would not apply. A company would not have an exemption from the reporting channels just because it had 30 or 40 employees if it is performing a public contract with a value of more than €1 million. The Minister will be aware t…

The Minister has eloquently made the case for dedicated structures. The fact that one can make a report is not the same as being able to make it through that kind of administrative channel. The Minister referred to the guarantee of confidentiality, encrypted channels and designated email addresses. All of those things are technical. They have a reasonable cost for what they do. It is not enough for people to know they can make a disclosure when all that is available is the capacity for them to email their boss or t…

Public procurement is almost a loophole in that regard.

I move amendment No. 16: In page 13, between lines 14 and 15, to insert the following: “(aa) is performing a public contract with a value of more than €1million, or”.

I move amendment No. 17: In page 13, between lines 14 and 15, to insert the following: “(aa) is a company with an annual turnover of over €1 million, or”.

I move amendment No. 18: In page 13, line 20, to delete “17 December 2023” and substitute “30 June 2023”. This is another amendment that relates to timings. It seeks to change the date by which companies with 250 employees must establish, maintain and operate internal reporting channels and procedures. It proposes a shift in the timeline from 17 December 2023 to 30 June 2023. It just shifts the time because we have waited a very long time for this. Something that is 18 months away feels too long and 12 months is mo…

While understand the constraint the derogation that was sought places on the Minister, in order to mark that this would be a better timeframe, I will press the amendment.

I move amendment No. 19: In page 14, line 37, to delete “250” and substitute “50”. I believe there is a technical drafting error in the amendment, so I will withdraw it. I have to move it because the other amendments in the grouping are attached to it. Otherwise I probably would not move it. Amendment No. 22 seeks to add a condition around the provision that employers with fewer than 250 employees may share resources in terms of the receipt of reports under this session. While I fully understand the desire to share…

The Minister has described those who might be experienced in receiving the reports. The danger is that where this involves those who are experienced in receiving reports but whose clients are effectively other companies, there is a little bit of a power imbalance. If a company is engaging somebody because they have a particular expertise in dealing with the reports, the concern is that it would incentivise certain kinds of results coming out of those reports, if the Minister knows what I mean. It would be wrong for…

Neither of my amendments remove the existence of resource sharing but seek to add a few conditions and caveats in that regard. I will withdraw the amendments for now but come back to the issue on Report Stage.

I move amendment No. 20: In page 14, line 39, after “resources” to insert “with a linked company or companies”.

I move amendment No. 22: In page 15, between lines 3 and 4, to insert the following: “(c) Where an employer shares resources in respect of the receipt and investigation of reports under this section, they shall, prior to sharing such resources, carry out a data protection impact assessment in relation to the sharing of such resources.”.

I move amendment No. 28: In page 23, between lines 25 and 26, to insert the following: “Amendment of section 8 of Principal Act 12. Section 8 of the Principal Act is amended by— (a) the deletion of “and” in paragraph (a), and (b) the insertion of the following paragraphs after paragraph (b): “(c) the making of a disclosure is in the public interest, or (d) the worker reasonably believes that their own manager or the head of the public body concerned is complicit in the relevant wrongdoing concerned.”.”. This relate…

While the directive proposes that people should be encouraged to go directly to public bodies, my concern is that the way this provision is phrased is less about encouraging people to do that and more about discouraging reports to Ministers. It is by having positive measures within public bodies that we will encourage employees to act. When cases begin to pile up, people who make a disclosure may find that nobody is penalised and no action is taken to address the substantive issue they highlighted. Once we have sev…

I will maybe make two-----

I have one further point and one follow-up question for the Minister. It is right and proper for us, as parliamentarians and Oireachtas Members, that there should be a political accountability element to it as well. Ultimately, those of us who are elected, and those of us who are fortunate enough to be elevated to the position of being responsible for an area of public life in Ireland as a Minister, have a particular responsibility in terms of decision-making and what happens in respect of the management of public …

I will probably withdraw a number of the subsequent amendments because I think we have potential for engagement on them. I will press amendment No. 28, however, which is the fundamental principle of it.

I move amendment No. 31: In page 23, line 33, to delete “and” where it secondly occurs and substitute “or”. I withdraw the amendment and reserve the right to resubmit on Report Stage.

I move amendment No. 33: In page 24, between lines 2 and 3, to insert the following: “(ia) the worker reasonably believes that their own manager or the head of the public body is complicit in the wrongdoing concerned;”. I withdraw the amendment and reserve the right to resubmit on Report Stage.