28/02/2012

Whistleblower Legislation Welcomed

Fine Gael Dublin Mid West TD, Derek Keating, has welcomed the publication of the Draft Heads of the new whistleblower legislation by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin.

Deputy Keating added that the recent case of Louise Bayliss had underlined the need for this legislation to be brought forward.

"There is a clear commitment in the Programme for Government to introduce whistleblower legislation, to address the shortfall in the existing law which fails to provide sufficient protection to employees who expose wrongdoing. The urgent need for this legislation was further highlighted by the recent case of Louise Bayliss. I have no doubt that there are many other similar cases; this legislation will provide protection to the workers involved, with the ultimate aim of protecting the citizen.

"It is essential that employees who chose to speak out to uncover malpractice, poor standards or wrongdoing should not suffer as a consequence. If we want to encourage an open, transparent society, we must empower ordinary workers to disclose information that is in the public interest. This should never be thwarted by the interests of middle management or an inefficient hierarchal structure. The proposed legislation will provide whistleblower protection in a uniform manner for all sectors of the economy, for the first time ever."

(CD/GK)

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