Transparency International Ireland (TI Ireland) wrote a letter to Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Michael McGrath sharing its views on the Protected Disclosures Amendment Bill 2022, which aims to transpose Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and Council on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law (EU Whistleblowing Directive) into Irish Law.
The letter outlined how TI Ireland viewed that it is likely that the Bill will both directly and indirectly weaken existing protections for Irish whistleblowers in violation of Article 25.2 of the EU Whistleblowing Directive. This Article makes it clear that the implementation of the Directive ‘shall under no circumstances constitute grounds for a reduction in the level of protection already afforded by Member States in the areas covered by this Directive’.