Whistleblowing

The Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022 (the 2022 Bill) is intended to amend the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 (the 2014 Act). Substantial changes to the 2014 Act are required for Ireland to comply with EU law as it relates to protected disclosures

The Protected Disclosures Act 2014, enacted on 15th July 2014, provides protection from penalisation for workers in all sectors who make a protected disclosure, otherwise known as whistleblowing. This includes protection against being dismissed, demoted, denial of access to promotion etc.

A disclosure occurs when a worker brings 'relevant information' to the attention of another party.

The Protected Disclosures Act 2014 was amended by the EU (Protection of Trade Secrets) Regulations 2018 which introduce a public interest requirement for protected disclosures which contain trade secrets.