Source: The Irish Mail on Sunday
A whistleblower has filed the first known criminal complaint under Ireland’s new whistleblowing law. The complaint, made by a whistleblower regarding concerns about an investigation within Ireland’s Prison Service, has been referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
This marks the first publicly-known case brought under the Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Act 2022, which introduced criminal sanctions for retaliation against whistleblowers. The law, which transposes the EU Whistleblowing Directive into Irish national law, came into effect in January 2023. It imposes penalties of up to two years in prison or fines of up to €250,000 for those found guilty of hindering a whistleblower or penalising them for making a protected disclosure.