Source: irishstatutebook.ieÂ
A legal regulation to amend whistleblowing law has been passed in Ireland.
The Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery & Reform signed Statutory Instrument No. 375 of 2023 European Union (Protection of Persons who Report Breaches of Union law) regulations 2023 to further amend the Protected Disclosures Act to give further effect to the EU Directive on whistleblowing. The regulations came into operation on 22 July 2023.
The regulation follow concerns raised by the EU Commission regards Irelands transposition of the Directive with regards to the requirement that persons reporting breaches within scope of the Directive to relevant institutions, bodies, offices or agencies of the Union should be protected in the same way as those reporting externally to national competent authorities (under Article 6 (4).)
Ireland has had whistleblowing legislation since 2014 and the new Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Act 2022 to transpose the EU Directive came into force on 1 January 2023. These amendments come just 6 months later, highlighting the complexity of implementing the Directive for EU Member States policy makers.